Chapter 81, Vivid Nightmare

                                    

                                          
"Get the water changed fast!", my mother instructed my father as I struggled to keep my eyes open. The most I could manage was keep them in open slits. My chest was rising and falling rapidly as I felt my body tremble uncontrollably from the cold. 
                          
"His body is burning hot", mother informs father in a concerned voice. 
                          
"I'll go summon a medic", father assures, and I hear his footsteps stray further away. 
                          
"Oh my goodness Itachi...", mother placed her soft touch on my face to inspect my temperature. 
                          
I was breathing heavily out of my mouth when I squirmed as mother placed an ice cold clothe on my forehead. She cleaned off the beads of sweat on my face and neck, putting me at ease a bit. 
                          
"Sasuke...", I muttered under my breath as my eyes almost gave in to this tiredness, "H-Hanabi...", I imagined her face just as I felt my eyes click shut. My mouth was still parted as I breath in and out erratically. 
                          
My eyes were closed, but my mind refused to shut down. Throughout the night, mother kept changing the cloth pieces to cool my body down. 
                          
The Medic my father summoned examined me and concluded to my parents that I wasn't infected by a virus. Rather, he explained that it was a psychogenic fever, caused by mental stress and pressure. 
                          
The rest of the conversation was vague to my ears as I drifted into total darkness. The last thing I remember was that the rhythm of my breathing became normal again and I finally unfolded my scrunched up face.
                          
I drifted into a nightmare. 
                          
It was Hanabi's Genjutsu. The Genjutsu she casted upon me when Madara successfully manipulated me into wanting to annihilate my clan. 
                          
It was Sasuke, crying and saying that he'll kill me over and over again. 
                          
"Itachi..."
                          
 My head jerked to the side, where Hanabi stood with a smile. Suddenly, her dark Genjutsu disappeared and our surroundings altered into a field of sunflowers, where her white butterflies could be seen roaming and twirling around. 
                          
I look up at the face of a thirteen-year-old Hanabi Namikaze in shock. This is too surreal...
                          
Her blue eyes were right in their sockets, where they belong. Her hair had the striking vibrant blonde colored to it and still...
                          
This didn't feel right...
                          
With a genuine smile, Hanabi extends out a hand as her eyes sparkle with affection. Involuntarily, I returned the gesture as I am too desperate for her at this point. 
                          
This is just a dream...
                          
I ignored my voice of reasoning and extended my hand in return. Hanabi took it with a smile before pulling me closer as she aims for me to land on top while she lays in the field. 
                          
If only it was real...
                          
Shut up...
                          
My smile broadened as I looked into those blue eyes. I wanted nothing more than to get lost in the abyss of the light hue that compliments her eyes, which was always shaped like a crescent moon. 
                          
The two of us willingly tumble in the same direction, smiling all the while looking into each other's eyes. 
                          
"This is it", she whispered, flashing me a smile that reached her eyes.
                          
"Our happy ending?", I desperately croak out, searching the blue of her eyes for an answer. 
                          
Hanabi's smile only broadened, but she didn't give me the word of reassurance. She simply faltered back into the field of sunflowers and I was to land on top.