The Sound of Dreams

AN: Hello to all! With the holidays and company visiting, I have just now been able to use my computer! Next update will be Sunday as Saturday I will be traveling most of the day. I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for reading and Happy New Year to all! And, as always, thanks ever so much for your reviews!


CHAPTER 16

Five seconds after the door had closed, Naruto had collapsed on the bed and started howling with laughter. “Oh my god, did you see the look on his face?” the dobe demanded before breaking down into mirthful giggles yet again.

Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch. He wasn’t sure if he should be irritated or amused at his friend’s childish antics. Well, as he had always told himself in the past, when in doubt go with irritated. It was the safer of the two. “You do realize, moron, that the small bed you are currently flopping around on is the one you volunteered to share tonight.”

Naruto glanced at the narrow bed, grin still plastered on his face. “Heh. As long as you keep your cold feet to yourself, bastard, we’ll be fine.”

“You mean as long as you don’t hog the bed. I should make you sleep on the floor.”

“No way! Besides, you have to admit it. It was funny!”

“Hn.” This is what he had missed so much while he was away. He was loathe to admit it because it was almost like a betrayal to the cold harsh reality of his clan’s pain and suffering. It felt like to smile or be happy was almost to make inconsequential their deaths and his oath to avenge them. And of course there was his brother. To be better than him, to defeat him, meant to be as powerful as him. To be like him. To hate him and everything to the point where only one thought, one emotion consumed him and gave him unwavering focus and strength.

Naruto stifled a sigh as the ghost of a smile disappeared from his friend’s lips and the coldness returned tenfold. Every time he thought the bastard might start to feel something, he shut down or turned frigid. ‘Maybe he just needs to get laid,’ Naruto thought sourly. ‘Hmm, maybe I should offer as a form of stress relief.’ The thought brought a light blush to his cheeks. He personally thought that he was pretty talented in that area. He could offer his services to his friend. A self sacrifice on his part naturally.

“I’ve seen that look on Kakashi’s face before. What are you thinking, dobe?” the cold voice shattered his musings.

“Oh, not much,” he said with studied innocence. He nonchalantly turned onto his stomach, willing his body to cool itself down. “So, same routine? Laundry, shower, food, etc?”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, wondering what was going through the teenager’s mind. At some times the dobe was totally clueless, like during their snowball fight and subsequent sword discussion or when it came to young Hinata’s crush on him. Then at other times, the idiot could almost give Kakashi a run for his money like when he turned into a naked girl right in front of his whole Ninja Academy class and then turned around and taught the jutsu to an eight year old kid.

That was even before he was taught by their own porn-reading instructor. Sasuke also knew for a fact that he had been at least briefly taught by someone Naruto called “ero-sennin” who he had claimed was even more perverted than Kakashi. For the first time he found himself curious about what Naruto had been up to during their time apart. A smaller, more nostalgic part wondered if he should ask about the rest of the rookie nine, but he quashed it ruthlessly. Having one friend was hard enough. He didn’t need to tie himself to others. He also realized, apart from the cryptic statement of “there’s nothing there for me now,” Naruto hadn’t even mentioned Konoha in the few weeks that had been together. That didn’t seem like the loudmouth who would talk about anything and everything normally.

Reminding himself that the only thing he cared about Naruto doing was the idiot keeping his promise regarding Itachi, he turned to the only dresser in the room. Fishing out two sets of clothes, he tossed one to the blonde on the bed and kept the other for himself. “Showers and facilities are two doors down on the right.”

Naruto held up the white gi with the discreet uchiwa embroidered on the back near the collar. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You could always go naked,” Sasuke reminded him.

With a sigh and a scowl, Naruto grabbed the clothes and his toothbrush and stomped off to the shower. Moving two doors down, he entered what looked to be a communal bathroom. There were four separate tile shower stalls with curtained entrances, a large soaking tub and a circular running fountain at which to shave or brush your teeth. A doorway led to another room with toilets and urinals.

Stripping down, he tossed his dirty clothes next to his clean ones on a nearby shelf and then entered one of the showers.

About ten minutes later as he was standing there rinsing off, he heard the main door open and then reclose. He hesitated a moment, then eased his senses out, trying to identify the intruder. He brushed up against a charka signature with an underlying hint of ice with an even more subtle hint of fire beneath that. He knew that signature almost as well as his own.

“It’s just me, dobe,” Sasuke announced as he felt the brush of something warm and spicy, like hot cinnamon.

“What do you want, teme?”

“Brought you a towel, idiot, but I’ll make sure to let you streak down the halls next time.” He heard a mutter that sounded suspiciously like “prick” in response. He threw his own clothes up on the shelf and steeped into an empty shower stall. “There should be food sent to the room soon,” he said before he turned on the water.

Naruto’s stomach greeted the news loudly and happily. He killed the water and quickly grabbed the towel to dry off. After having dressed from the waist down (he refused to wear that damn gi unless he absolutely had to), he walked over to the basin to brush his teeth. Glancing up casually, he happened to see that Sasuke’s shower curtain had about a thirty centimeter gap in it. He had a clear view of a pale, tautly muscled flank as his friend washed his hair. The sleek dancer-like muscles rippled and flexed as he shifted his weight with his movements. Naruto’s toothbrush paused as Sasuke turned to rinse out his raven black hair.

Water flowed over the defined chest, edging pale pink nipples in its trek southward. It continued over firm abs then parted to caress creamy thighs. However at that point, Naruto’s gaze was riveted to the dark curling hair nestled between those wonderful thighs. Or more accurately to the flesh that hung displayed there. Lax but still clearly well endowed, his mouth salivated at the thought of licking the rivulets of water that coursed over that length.

His hand gripped the side of the metal basin tightly as, right before his eyes, that pallid manhood twitched and filled out slightly. His widened eyes darted upward to meet onyx black eyes staring back at him. He froze, his mind abandoning him in his time of need. There was a long moment of silence, and then:

“You’re drooling toothpaste down your chest,” Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto gave a start as he glanced downward. “Shit!” he said around the toothbrush still jammed in his mouth. As he simultaneously removed the offending utensil, rinsed out his mouth and dove for a towel, he heard the distinctive sound of a shower curtain being jerked closed.

He blinked at the now-shrouded stall and decided that since he was still breathing perhaps he should examine this situation further. His stomach rumbled, trying to gain his attention. ‘Okay, after food perhaps,’ he conceded. After a last look at the still running shower, he grabbed his clothes and walked back to their room.

***************

Sasuke finished washing himself, still trying to decide if he should be irritated or amused. Unlike usual, however, he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to be irritated this time. Watching the dobe just stand there drooling had been both entertaining and, if he was honest with himself, flattering. Not to mention a little thrilling as well. It was certainly a whole different sensation than when Orochimaru had watched him bathe. Shaking his head, he mentally shoved his thoughts in a box labeled “All Things Dobe” and filed it away for later contemplation. At the moment, he had more important things to do.

After quickly dressing, Sasuke stepped out into the hallway. Instead of moving towards his room however, he moved further into the hidden base. Coming across a servant, he handed the young man his soiled clothing and told him to gather the rest from his room and have it laundered. He moved on, ignoring the “Yes, Uchiha-sama” that the other murmured.

Sasuke quickly came to the door of Orochimaru’s study. He confidently disarmed the traps surrounding it and completed the necessary seals to unlock the jutsu protecting it. This he had seen done before on his previous visit with the Sannin. He swiftly entered the room and resealed it behind him. Turning on the lights, he surveyed the relatively uncluttered room. There was a large table with a plush, comfortable looking seat behind it. On the heavy table was a lamp and a handful of blank scrolls neatly stacked by a brush and ink set. Along one wall on a shelf were some more common lower level jutsu scrolls. Nothing that he was particularly interested in.

He activated his Sharingan and studied the room more carefully. He knew that there was a vault in this room. He just wasn’t sure of where. His eyes picked up the minute trace of mortar dust on the floor along one section of the far wall. He moved closer and, after several minutes of looking, was able to see a section of stone where the mortar didn’t quite meet the edges of several stones. He could sense the presence of charka in the area but was unable to identify the sealing/locking jutsu used.

He had to get into this vault. He was aware that the snake Sannin had placed some of his more valuable scrolls in the vault of this lair. Valuable enough that he had never let Sasuke watch him open it. More determined than ever, he pulled the chair over in front of the wall and sat down, studying it intently.

**************

It was many hours later when Sasuke let himself into the room he was sharing with Naruto. While he had a few ideas about the vault, he didn’t know enough yet to risk opening it. Perhaps after some sleep he would be clear headed enough to discover some more.

The room was dimly lit by a candle on the simple but sturdy desk in the corner of the room. On the desk were the cold remains of dinner which he declined to eat at the moment. He just wasn’t in the mood for food. On the chair in front of the desk was a folded pile of clean clothes, ready to be packed away.

He glanced over at the bed to where Naruto was sprawled out, blankets pushed down to his hips. The golden light of the candle seemed to make the tanned skin glow softly. As his eyes slid over the vivid yellow hair, the dobe box in his mind rattled, begging to be opened. He ignored it and moved over towards the bed, staring down at his sleeping companion. ’Not a companion,’ a part of his mind denied. ’Merely a tool to be used.’

Another part of his mind urged him to reach out and touch that skin. The whisker marks were drawing his fingers in to explore them, to see if they were scars or birthmarks. Finally, unable to resist any longer, he allowed his fingertips to ghost over the surprisingly smooth skin. However, in a typical Naruto fashion, he could feel the faintest trace of a ridge along those lines, leaving the answer as enigmatic as everything else that really counted about the young man. If only he could delve inside that mind as easily as he traced those tanned cheeks. If only he could figure out what made him tick, what it was about him that seemed to infect and change everyone around him. Perhaps one day he could use his Sharingan to project himself into the younger shinobi’s mind and go exploring. His lips twisted into a facsimile of a smile as he thought he should be afraid of that particular prospect.

Blue eyes snapped open, meeting his own and disrupting his thoughts. A left hand immediately jerked up to cover the right side of a chest protectively as a swirling mass of charka formed in the right palm. Sasuke immediately used his speed to move himself out of range, faster than the eye could follow. Those blue orbs blinked and awareness flooded them. The chakra dissipated as Naruto gave a short, embarrassed laugh. “You startled me, bastard.”

Sasuke noted that the left hand hadn’t fully relaxed. “You should be more aware of your surroundings,” he murmured reflexively but without his usual rancor.

“Pfft, whatever, bastard. Maybe you shouldn’t hover over people while they sleep.” Naruto watched as Sasuke turned away and started to strip down to his boxers. “So, get the scrolls?”

“No.”

Naruto waited in expectant silence for a long moment. “Annnd?” he finally prompted. Sasuke made a shooing motion with his hand and Naruto obediently scooted over.

“And I will get them tomorrow,” he said shortly as he crawled under the blankets.

Naruto stared at his companion for a long moment before speaking. “Hey, umm, Sasuke,” he said as he propped himself up on his right elbow. “I’ve been thinking…”

“There’s a first.”

“Shut up, teme!” Naruto paused to glare at his friend then continued his train of thought. “Well, you know stress relief is really important. You know getting rid of tension and all. And I’ve always been bad at meditation even though I’m supposed to meditate to keep my chakra pathways clear, but I really suck at it.”

Sasuke turned his head to look at his bedmate in slight confusion. Apparently this train of thought had many stop-overs before it reached its destination.

“And I’ve only seen you relieve stress and tension by beating the shit out of things and people…” he continued to ramble.

Sasuke couldn’t deny that last statement.

“And I’m sure an ice prick like you must get stressed since you’re an uptight asshole…”

“Besides insulting me, is there a point to this?” Sasuke interrupted coldly.

“See, that’s kinda what I mean,” Naruto said while pointing a finger at his friend.

Sasuke wondered which would occur first, his headache or Naruto’s conclusion to this meandering conversation.

“So anyway, no strings attached, doesn’t have to mean anything, just stress relief…”

“Naruto,” Sasuke intervened once more. “Take a deep breath.” He waited until the other boy did so. “Now tell me what the hell you are trying to say.”

“Wanna fool around?” he almost squeaked out.

Sasuke caught himself before he did a double take. After the scene in the shower, he shouldn’t be surprised really. However, that didn’t change the fact that he was. Did the offer intrigue him? Of course. He had already semi-admitted to himself that he found Naruto attractive. Did he think it was a good idea? Of course not. If they had been complete strangers then perhaps they could’ve avoided entanglement. But he didn’t believe it was possible for two people with as much history between them as they did to be unaffected by a new level of intimacy.

He watched as Naruto started fidgeting nervously. The fingers of the younger boy’s left hand unconsciously caressed the smooth unscarred flesh where Sasuke’s hand had once pierced. He ruthlessly quelled any feelings of guilt. He had no reason to feel guilty. He had left the dobe alive in the end. The fight would have never happened if the idiot hadn’t pursued him in the first place. However Sasuke was sure that on some level, Naruto didn’t trust him completely. This would be a way to bind him closer to Sasuke and, by default, Sasuke’s purpose. If they were to fight together against the murderer of his clan, then it would be best if the blonde trusted him absolutely. He almost nodded to himself, reassured that his thinking was logical and in no way was influenced by other factors. Factors like underlying emotions and curiosity. No, there was no other reason at all.

“Well you know, it was a passing thought,” Naruto laughed nervously into the silence. “Forget I said anything. It’s late, I’m still aslee-"

“Okay,” Sasuke agreed without inflection.

Naruto froze. “O..Okay?” Surely he had heard wrong.

“Yes, dobe. Okay,” he reiterated quietly.

A slow grin crept across Naruto’s face until his eyes squinted in delight. He let out a “whoop!” and in one bound was out from under the covers and sitting across Sasuke’s legs. He rubbed his hands together gleefully then cracked his knuckles. “Alright, let the master get to work! I’ll have you moaning the name of Uzumaki Naruto in a matter of seconds!”

’What have I done?’ Sasuke asked himself faintly.

TBC