"They promised that dreams come true - but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams too."
- Oscar Wilde
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Kakashi had just finished his session of training and was slumped up on a tall branch of a tree, watching over Tazuna's house.
"Ohaiyo, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei," Kakashi whispered to no one in particular. It was morning, just extremely early. It was about two o'clock in the morning, but the jonin didn't feel tired. Guess all those training sessions in the ANBU paid off.
Kakashi shifted, changing his position so he could see the house better. "I told you about my genin team, haven't I? Minato-sensei, your kid really inherited Kushina-chan's energy, but your looks. Man, he is like the most hyperactive person I've ever met."
The silver-haired man could almost hear his sensei's sheepish laugh playing in his ears, and his mood dampened.
"Obito, I think you are the same as Naruto. Nothing else to say there. Sakura Haruno, mah, she's like a more extreme version of you, Rin. Sasuke? He's me. Literally. When I was younger and was a jerk to you, Obito."
The Copy-nin couldn't say anything more, because his sharpened senses pick up a scream and a spike in Sakura's chakra.
"Got to go," Kakashi saluted to nobody, before disappearing down the tree in a flash and running towards Sakura's room.
A nightmare.
Now that was something Kakashi was familiar with since they greeted him every single night after his father's death until they stopped for about a week, and then Obito died. Then Rin died. Then Minato died. And so on.
"Sakura!" Naruto was summoning clones to get her warm water and extra blankets, though he was still sleep-deprived and his chakra hadn't been fully replenished yet. The clones stumbled around clumsily, almost tripped Sasuke as he walked in to see what the fuss was.
The girl herself was a sobbing mess. Her pink hair was plastered to her face and matted with tears, and her face was buried in her hands while her body shook like crazy.
"Naruto, enough." Kakashi's voice was soft but firm. "Get rid of your clones, don't waste chakra. Naruto, go get the blankets yourself. Sasuke, get the warm water please."
The two boys listened to their sensei instantly, and the jonin walked closer to the kunoichi, taking in her appearance. Her nightmare must've been bad. He had known who his genin team was before he started to train them, and so he let a shadow clone trail each one of them. Very chakra depleting, but it was worth it.
All three of them had frequent nightmares, but Sakura's was on par with Sasuke's for the worst impact. Naruto had the Tailed-Beast to talk to, but the other two didn't have anyone. Sakura's parents were off on a year-long vacation, and Sasuke's whole clan was gone.
"Sakura, relax. Let it all out." Kakashi rubbed soothing circles into her back. Kakashi felt nostalgic. That was what Minato would do when Kakashi would wake up screaming his heart out because he saw one of his treasured people die over again.
"S-sor-ry, sen-nsei," Sakura said between hiccups, tears still overflowing.
Kakashi sighed, before accepting the warm and fluffy black blanket Naruto offered as he walked in. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Sakura didn't answer, only her body racketed even more.
"I'll take that as a no," Kakashi answered for himself, before turning to find Sasuke walking in with a jug of hot water and a glass cup in hand.
Sakura looked up when the Uchiha placed the two items on her bedside table and uttered a quiet 'thank you' which Sasuke responded with a simple nod. Kakashi couldn't help but be proud. The fangirl was now a strong and independent girl, the avenger was now becoming part of the family, and the prankster wasn't always cracking stupid jokes and was incredibly stupid.
"Sorry about waking you guys up," Sakura whispered, holding a cup of water in her hands.
Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "No problem, dattebayo! We all get nightmares!"
"Hn," Sasuke replied, but the concern in his eyes was enough to know that he cared for the female in his team.
"Did I..." Sakura broke off before starting again. "Did I wake up anyone else?"
A quick chakra check later, Kakashi shook his head. "No, just us."
"Sorry," Sakura said sheepishly.
Sasuke huffed. "Stop apologising, it's annoying."
Sakura offered a faint smile. "At least you're still the same."
"Hn," Sasuke picked up the rest of the blankets that Naruto had taken, before making a makeshift bed on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Sakura asked, alarmed.
Kakashi gave his team a smile. "Keeping you company. Sleep well, kids."
"Hai!" Naruto grinned, before diving into the other bed that Sasuke made, waving at his sensei as the adult walked out of the room, closing the light and shutting the door behind him.
They really were becoming one big family.
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"Ohaiyo, my adorable subordinates."
"Ugh...five more minutes."
"Get up, Naruto."
"Hey, dobe!"
"Get up, usuratonkachi."
"Be quiet you two idiots!"
"Sakura, we're meant to get up."
"Uchiha, I don't give a-"
"No bad language!" Kakashi interrupted, before ruffling the girl's pink hair. "But you do need to get up as well."
"Fiiiiiine!" Sakura groaned, hauling her body out of her bed. Wincing when she looked into the mirror, Sakura saw dark bags under her eyes and her face was pale. She looked like a nightmare, much less having been in one.
Kakashi watched in amusement as the girl made a beeline for the bathroom, before turning to the rest of his genin. "Get up, boys. We're going home."
"Home." Naruto deadpanned, but there was an underlying bitter tone to it. Of course. Kakashi remembered how the villagers would beat up the small blond, which is probably why his grown was so stunted. (There was no way Kakashi let his shadow clone beat a couple of the villagers up, nah.)
Kakashi smiled his closed-eye smile. "I'll buy you ramen."
"Arigato sensei!" Naruto was instantly on a high note, bounding around getting everything cleaned.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, yawning. "Ohaiyo, sensei."
"Ohaiyo," Kakashi replied. "You guys have one hour tops to get everything ready. Don't forget about breakfast!"
The silver-haired jonin walked back into the kitchen, offering help to Tsunami, who politely declined. But before Tsunami could place down breakfast onto the dining table, the door was banged and the poor wooden door almost flew off its hinges.
"Open up!"
Tsunami paled.
"Gato."
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Author's Note
I have a feeling that I'm just writing nonsense. Like I feel like I'm stalling, but I have no idea for what. Anyways, my next chapter is going to be pushing the story back onto the rails! Yay!
Please vote and comment!
~ Magica2007