The Heart Remembers

Nightmares and Memories

Bu-dump ............. Bu-dump ............. Bu-dump

The steady rhythm of a heartbeat pulsing in the darkness was maddening. Urgent thoughts fought their way through the heavy nothingness, their urgency turned sluggish from the weight.

He's mine..... He belongs to me!

"Yes, Mitsuki. I belong to you and you belong to me. Always." The voice was warm and smiling.

Then everything was silent. He was running again, the moon full and oppressive over his head. Despite its size, it provided no light, all of it drowned out by the orange and red glow in the distance. His legs ached and his lungs burned but he pushed himself to go faster, ignoring the warning in his head that it was already too late. Black trees flew past without number but his goal was still so infuriatingly far away. Finally, he was close enough to see the source of the light was a massive inferno, where the trees were consumed like torches and a building erupted with flames. He ran headlong into the hellfire, calling a name over and over but his cries were as silent as the hungry flames.

He was searching. There was someone here, someone precious; someone he couldn't live without but no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find them. The more fruitless his search, the more frantic he became. He yelled the name over and over in spite of his deaf ears. Questions repeated, plaguing his already tortured mind. How had this happened? Where was he? Where was he?. The only thing he did know was this was his fault. He had made a terrible mistake and now he feared the price was more than he could pay.

He searched on, flames rising higher on all sides but he didn't care. Then something wet hit him from above, making him freeze. Another drop, cold despite the blistering heat, followed. He didn't want to look up. He already knew what was there and he didn't want to see. His eyes betrayed him and his heart stopped as he took in the gruesome sight. Hanging upside-down above him was a body. Golden hair stretched towards the ground, weighted by blood that lazily dripped onto Mitsuki's face. Behind the streaked and stained locks were wide, staring eyes; eyes that were the color of the sky on a clear summer's day.

"BORUTO!!"

Mitsuki jumped awake back in the ANBU compound gasping and with a splitting headache. He groaned as he sat up, gripping the sides of his head with shaking hands. Hair damp from a cold sweat brushed his fingertips as he gingerly tried to shake his head clear. That nightmare was the clearest one yet, his heart was still pounding in his chest and the pain in his head was refusing to subside even as the emotions mercifully drained away.

Usually his nightmares were nothing more than blurred colors and emotions with the exception of the moon. This time, everything was so much clearer and the face of the dead man haunted him. He saw him with frightening clarity every time he closed his eyes. And, he remembered his name; Boruto.

The name was familiar but Mitsuki knew he had never heard it before, which was deeply confusing. He wracked his brain trying to figure out why a name he had never heard before would feel warm and familiar, almost like an old blanket, but nothing presented itself.

Finally, when his head protested with another pointed throb, he gave up for the time being and took in his surroundings. As he had suspected already, he was back in his room but he had no memory of how he got here or how long it had been. He shook down his already abused brain for information. The last thing he remembered, he was on a mission. It wasn't just any mission, he was recovering the hostage for Lady Sarada. The hostage had been injured, Mitsuki was going to heal him... then he saw golden hair and blood, identical to his dream... Mitsuki's eyes snapped open. He'd had another episode.

His memories after the severe trigger were patchy at best but he did have vague memories of being hit over the head. His head ached painfully but it didn't feel like the result of blunt force trauma. He had to have botched the mission badly for them to treat his injuries then dump him in his room alone. A knock on his door made him jump and his head throb again painfully.

"Mitsuki! The Lady Sarada wants to see you." Announced a voice Mitsuki vaguely recognized. He resisted a sigh. This was to be expected. Hopefully, he hadn't killed anyone by mistake, especially the hostage. Lady Sarada would not be pleased about that. He didn't bother to answer the messenger. He knew he would have left immediately. None of the other ANBU came near him for longer than they absolutely had to. His suspicions were confirmed when he opened the door and found the hallway empty. He was making his way to the exit when the sound of a voice mid-rant stopped him in his tracks.

"I just don't get why she favors the Snake!" Mitsuki didn't typically eavesdrop. Usually he didn't care enough about what others had to say about him but this time was different. His memories from the mission were sketchy at best and this could be a convenient opportunity to learn more about what happened before his meeting with Lady Sarada.

"Come on, of course she does." Answered another voice, sounding exasperated, "You know they were friends once, right? I know you're young but still..." He trailed off in what sounded like disbelief. Mitsuki was so stunned he almost missed what was said next.

"The Lady Sarada was friends with the Snake?!" The owner of the first voice shouted his question, his shock mirroring Mitsuki's own.

"Yeah. She fought along side him and Boruto in the last war." Mitsuki could almost hear him roll his eyes, "I guess they were all really close." Mitsuki felt like he was falling very fast. His head spun as it throbbed relentlessly.

"He fought with Boruto? THE Boruto?!" The young nin exclaimed. There was quiet for a moment, then the sound of muffled movement. Mitsuki could only assume the veteran ANBU had beckoned the younger to come closer because his next words were low.

"More than that. I heard a rumor that the Snake was there when he died..." Mitsuki had heard enough. Another painful throb behind his eyes told him that it was a good time to go. He hurried without hurrying through the halls and out into strong sunshine. He replayed the short conversation in his mind over and over as he allowed his body to beat the familiar path to the Hokage's tower automatically. If what he heard was true, then things were as he feared. He had a past before the last year. More than that, he and Lady Sarada had been friends. They had fought together, comrades in arms. He wondered for a moment what had happened to make things turn out this way.

Troubling as that was, the worst of all was the name had come up again: Boruto. He was sure that he had never heard the name before remembering it less than twenty minutes ago but if the young nin's actions were anything to go by, he was well known in the village. Maybe by more than just the village. But he was dead... a chill involuntarily ran through his body, the product of something that he wasn't ready to think about. His breathing was trying to quicken as he felt a panic attack threatening. He willed it away with the promise of answers. If he and Lady Sarada were really friends at one point, then it would be best to hear the truth from her.