The Sound of Dreams

AN: Hello again!! I have no idea where this chapter came from while I was writing it, but it just kinda appeared on the screen while I was typing! :D I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks so much for all of your encouraging words and thanks to all who are taking the time to read this. I am still writing ahead of schedule (started chapter 29 yesterday, yay me!!) so posts should still occur regularly.

As for the last chapter, sorry that the warning (and the scene to which it was referring) came as a shock to everyone. That was my more sadistic side showing itself. I guess I can't help but strive for that WTF? reaction from my audience at times! It means I have your attention. (Muhahahaha)

To BlackWulff: your email was hidden, so I couldn't write back to you. However, I wouldn't mind a bit if you want to draw a pic of the Kyuubi in his more humanoid form. Just make sure you either email or post a link so I can see!!!

To Adi: Thanks for that glowing recommendation on LiveJournal!!


Chapter 19

Kyoshiro prided himself on being one of Orochimaru-sama’s top spies. He fancied himself a Spy Master in charge of gathering and disseminating information to his leader or to the pertinent individuals who required the knowledge for their particular projects. He had an uncanny knack for sorting through data provided to him and pulling out the oddities that pointed to a larger picture.

Sasuke-san and this “Oturan” were two such oddities.

Kyoshiro sighed and glanced down at his notes. As one of Orochimaru-sama’s favored and as a loyal follower, he kept a close eye on the goings on not only of enemy villages, but also on Sound’s own widespread network. He saw it as his duty to inform Orochimaru-sama of any suspicious activity within their ranks.

Kyoshiro, along with certain other important members of Oto, had been informed of the body transference by Kabuto that had taken place several moths ago. Kyoshiro himself had been able to take the physical description and was able to match it to the name of the body’s previous owner. Uzumaki Naruto. Jinchuuriki. An interesting choice but he was not one to judge anything that their leader did. It was his job to help protect the Legendary Sannin by providing him with information as well as the occasional assassination.

Which brought him back to the Uchiha and his companion.

Shortly after the incident, he had been able to send men to retrieve information from a few servants who had fled and survived the slaughter that had occurred at the lair near the gambling town of Oka no Saikoro. The survivors claimed that Orochimaru-sama himself had gone insane and killed everyone.

Then of course there was the strange occurrence not long after that in Lightning Country which ended up in more deaths and more uncharacteristic behavior from Orochimaru-sama. The reports of an imposter traveling with the Uchiha filtered in quite speedily through messenger birds.

Which brought him back to his current problem.

He knew he had Orochimaru-sama’s vessel in his lair. What he didn’t know was whether the Sannin was playing some kind of game, allowing some kind of plot to unfold or whether the vessel had actually taken over from the master. After a brief moment he came to the conclusion that someone of Orochimaru-sama’s stature and brilliance, not to mention dignity, would never conduct himself the way he had seen the yellow-haired vessel act. Therefore, he had to take measures to help reinstate the snake Sannin to power.

While Kyoshiro wanted to help his Otokage, he didn’t necessarily want to put himself directly in harm’s way. Besides, the work that this base did was too valuable to risk. His first step would be to try to subdue and capture the traitors, preferable in a non-violent way. Poison was always a good option for this.

******************
While that morning’s activities had been very fulfilling, seeing Sasuke naked in the shower and then going back to his room to jerk off to the sight couldn’t be anything but fulfilling, a few hours later found Naruto bored out of his mind. He crossed his arms with a sigh, wondering what kind of trouble he could get himself into to liven up his day. He felt his thumb absently running back and forth over the upper right side of his chest and forced the digit to stop.

He knew eventually that the conversation would take place. He knew that the conversation would probably degrade into another fight knowing the two of them. He knew that eventually they would bring up the past and the relative peace that they were now sharing would be shattered. He wanted to avoid that confrontation. He wanted to avoid that pain both for his sake and for Sasuke’s.

While normally Naruto took things head on in his outgoing and forceful manner, this is one thing that he didn’t want to immediately tackle. He wanted this chance to reestablish his connection with the dark-haired ninja before reopening wounds of the past. Of course he had already mostly forgiven Sasuke for the fight to begin with. After all, he never could hold a grudge very well against his friend. Then again, his friend had never tried to kill him before. But he didn’t blame Sasuke completely for the way he had been acting. He could tell that after the snake bastard had bitten his friend is when things started to change. While Sasuke might very well have been feeling the jealousy, hatred and despair the curse seal seemed to amplify everything negative that the other was feeling, turning it to a churning mass of darkness within his soul. Naruto knew about darkness within. Sasuke was just never very strong in fighting it.

Thus began his quest to try to save his friend from himself. He didn’t want to see Sasuke become like Gaara had been. Didn’t want him to become what Naruto himself could have been. Even though no other spirit inhabited Sasuke but his own, he still had his own demons that he had to contend with and they were just as deadly to his psyche as Naruto's and Gaara’s had been to theirs.

Eventually they would have this conversation, it would reopen their wounds and then it would either bring them closer together or tear them apart.

Shoving his thoughts aside, Naruto looked for something with which to distract himself. He pulled out the two packs containing the scrolls and started to sort through them. He made three piles which he mentally labeled “Boring”, “Interesting” and “What the hell?” He scowled at the number of scrolls that ended up in the third pile. He was quite sure that had Sasuke sorted them that the last pile would be almost non-existent.

Huffing through his nose, he pulled the second stack toward him (the smallest stack) and began to look through them.

Several hours later found the young shinobi stretched out on the floor on his stomach, feet kicking in the air, writing on a scroll. He had found a summoning scroll much like the one that had carried his giant windmill shuriken, but this one hadn’t had anything stored in it yet. He planned on using it to carry their pack of scrolls, but first he wanted to copy it to see if he could replicate the jutsu and make it work.

Naturally, he wasn’t dumb enough to use the scrolls as a guinea pig to try out the copy. Rather he was planning on using some unimportant item from the room to see if he was successful.

He had just grabbed Sasuke’s toothbrush when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” he sang out, hand casually dropping down by his kunai holster. A dark-haired young boy, barely looking ten years old, came in with a tray of food.

He cleared his throat nervously. “U-Uchiha-sama asked me to bring you lunch.”

Naruto’s mouth quirked up in a grin just as his stomach growled loudly in joy. “Just set it down over there,” he said cheerfully, gesturing towards the desk. The tray held a selection of rice, steamed vegetables as well as a few fried sea foods. “Hey, kid,” he said as the young boy turned to go.

“Y-Yes, sir?”

“See if you can’t sneak me some ramen for dinner.”

“Bu-but he already said what to fix for dinner.”

Naruto grinned at the boy’s apparent nervousness at the thought of disobeying the intimidating shinobi. “Yeah, but he didn’t say anything about not adding something to the order, did he?”

“N-No.”

“Then add three bowls of miso pork ramen and you’ll have my eternal thanks!”

The boy smiled at the ear to ear grin that the blonde gave him and quickly departed.

Naruto paused a moment to look between the tray and the toothbrush. Shrugging, he tucked the utensil behind his ear and went for the food. “Itadakimasu!” he practically crowed right before the inhaling began.


Naruto gave a pleased belch as he surveyed the battlefield of empty dishes. They were fallen soldiers who had fought valorously against the dual enemies of starvation and gluttony, leaving behind only their cold white ceramic corpses to tell the horrific tale.

He briefly wondered if he should have saved Sasuke some, but then decided the bastard could go get his own. If he had wanted some, then he should have showed up in time.

He sighed happily, patted his belly lovingly like one would a favored pet, and then moved back over to the scroll on the floor. He lifted his hand up to his ear only to find the toothbrush missing. He frowned and looked back over to the desk. After running his eyes over the area, he found the navy blue hygienic tool under the desk. He quickly fished it out and hastily rubbed the dust bunnies off on his pants. He blew on it once or twice before he was satisfied that his friend would never notice where his precious toothbrush had been. Personally he was shocked that it didn’t have the Uchiha mon on it somewhere. Probably not a whole lot of engravers specialized in toothbrushes.

He plopped down on his behind and carefully laid the toothbrush in the center of the kanji symbols. He channeled chakra as he made the appropriate hand seals before slapping his hands down upon the scroll.

Nothing happened.

Frowning, he compared the two scrolls, making sure all of the brush strokes matched. Brightening slightly, he made a couple of minor adjustments. Nodding, he readied himself once again. Chakra channeled, check. Hand seals, check. Slap the scroll, check. Toothbrush, poof. Success!

Jumping up, Naruto did a little victory dance in honor of his accomplishment. Okay, now time to bring the little booger back.

Chakra, hand seals, paper slapping.

No toothbrush.

“Kuso!” he cursed in frustration.

He compared scrolls once again, but couldn’t find any differences. Maybe he should touch up this kanji here…and maybe that one. He tucked the original scroll away and added a few brush strokes. Nodding decisively, he prepared the summoning for the toothbrush.

Draw up the chakra, perform the few hands seals, hands on the paper and…toothbrush!

A…pink toothbrush.

Sasuke was going to kill him.

Naruto tried several more times, but to no avail. The blue toothbrush was apparently lost in a void somewhere. Probably the same void that sucked socks into it from the dryer. Naruto never could figure that one out. He would put in twelve socks but only pulled out eleven. But every once in a while he would get lucky and pull out thirteen. But the thirteenth was usually green or blue or even pink occasionally. Those he kept for rare laundry emergency days since he normally didn't wear socks.

Shaking his head and dragging his mind back to the current predicament on hand, he held up the pink toothbrush. ’I wonder if it’s Sakura’s?’

Needless to say the uptight bastard would be pissed that he didn’t have a navy blue toothbrush. Naruto’s eyes widened as an idea struck. Jumping up, he quickly headed to the door.

*****************
Kyoshiro was walking toward the quarters that Uchiha used whenever he accompanied Orochimaru-sama on a visit when the door unexpectedly opened. The blonde-haired vessel, who should have been asleep at the moment, hurriedly walked out. The young man started slightly when he saw him, but then brightened. After a brief glance down at Kyoshiro’s hands, the blue-eyed jinchuuriki asked an unusual question.

“Does anyone around here use nail polish? Preferably dark blue?”

Kyoshiro blinked once or twice, then pulled himself up with an air of superiority. “I wouldn’t know,” he murmured. The blonde immediately frowned and turned to walk away without another word. “I trust lunch was acceptable?”

The young man stopped and nodded while looking over his shoulder. “Except for the lack of ramen, it was good! Ja!” He waved a hand vaguely in the other’s direction as he moved down the hall.

’Hmm, apparently a higher dosage and stronger sleep poison is required,’ He watched the blonde head bob animatedly down the hallway. ’A lot stronger.'

*********************
Sasuke ignored the knocking on the door. He had been holed up in the room all day trying to crack the vault. He believed he now had it. If they would let him alone that is. After he had left orders to feed the dobe, he had forgotten all about food. However at both noon and now later, some imbecile insisted on disrupting him merely to tell him food awaited him.

“Uchiha-sama,” a young voice said respectfully. “It is time to eat.”

While not wanting to acknowledge the presence, he figured he might as well answer to prevent further interruptions. “I will be out shortly.” Not a lie exactly. It just depended on your definition of “shortly.”


Two hours later found Sasuke walking towards the infirmary with a partially filled sack tucked up under his arm. He had decided to make a pit stop on the way to the kitchen to replenish any medical supplies that they might need. Not that Naruto made much use out of them, but he himself didn’t have a demon residing in his gut tending his every wound.

He made sure to grab some extra vitamins as well as a few medicines they might need in the future. His face turned slightly red as he spotted an innocuous looking tube sitting on a counter next to some latex examination gloves. After staring at it for a long moment, he snatched it up and stuck it in an extra medical kit.

While trying to ignore the paranoid feeling that everyone he passed in the hall somehow had Byakugan and could see into the medical kit, Sasuke stopped by the mess hall to grab a quick sandwich. He knew he rode Naruto hard (his face turned red again) about taking care of his health, but Sasuke was in too much of a hurry to take his own advice. They had the scrolls, now he just wanted to get out of here.

As he approached his door, it suddenly opened and a young boy came through carrying a large tray full of empty dishes. What caught his attention the most was the half stunned look on the kid’s face. What had the dobe done now? His nose twitched as the faint scent of ramen wafted by with the tray. Sasuke scowled and the boy ducked his head slightly, letting his eyes fall away.

“Would you like some dinner, Uchiha-sama?”

Sasuke recognized the voice as the one that had interrupted him several times today. “No,” he said shortly and walked past the boy into the room. His eyes immediately sought out his companion.

Naruto was sitting on the floor with his back propped against the bed, casually looking through some jutsu scrolls.

“Hn. Try not to strain your brain, dobe.” That hadn’t actually been what he meant to say, but he supposed it would work.

“Hey, Sasuke. Glad to see you, too. Missed you bunches. Hope you had a good day, ‘cause mine’s been BORING AS FUCK!” A pair of blue eyes glared up at him. “You better tell me you got those damn scrolls, ‘cause I’m not going to sit here another day with my thumb up my ass doin’ nothing.”

Sasuke didn’t think Naruto would appreciate comments on what else could be up his ass in his current mood, so he dropped the sack at the blonde’s feet instead. “We leave in the morning.”

“Finally,” the other boy sighed with relief.

Thinking that Naruto must be irritable due to his inactivity, Sasuke thought to cheer him up the best way he knew how. “We’ll get some training in as soon as we get into the woods again.” He made a gesture with the hand holding the medical kit. “I got some more bandages for you to use after I kick your ass.”

“You wish, teme!” came the expected comeback. “I will so beat you down!”

“Hn.” He watched as Naruto blinked slowly, his eyes drooping slightly. “Let’s get some sleep so we can get an early start.”

“M’not tired,” he slurred before giving a jaw-cracking yawn.

Sasuke smirked as he moved to lock the door, sealing it with his chakra. He then turned and started stripping down for bed. Even half asleep, Naruto managed a slightly lecherous grin. Sasuke fought down a blush successfully. “I’d be more impressed if you were actually awake enough to do something,” he informed the other loftily.

“Give me a minute, bastard. I’ll wake up for that.”

“Hn. Get ready for bed.” He moved past the other and slid under the covers, wearing only his boxers.

Naruto pushed himself to his feet, unsure why he felt so tired all of the sudden. Maybe it was working with the summons scroll so much. He stripped down to his briefs and turned out the lights.

He crawled onto the bed where Sasuke had already turned so his back was to Naruto. The younger of the two cautiously moved closer and allowed his arm to drape over the other’s hip. He felt the pale body tense up for long moment before slowly relaxing. He put his head down on the pillow and lost himself quickly to his dreams.

***************
Sasuke woke up to a dark room, wrapped within Naruto’s arms. He wasn’t sure how the clumsy ninja had managed to slide an arm under his head without waking him up, but he didn’t feel the need to complain. Actually he was surprised that the dobe hadn’t sprawled onto his back yet. Those two thoughts were just quick flashes through his mind as he tried to analyze what had caused him to awaken. It had been a noise…somewhat loud.

A noxious smell hit his nose and he immediately leapt to his feet, grabbing the kunai he always kept handy at night. His Sharingan activated, instantly scanning for a smoke bomb or some other source for the poisonous gas. He froze when his nose finally identified the fumes. A gurgling sound from behind him seemed to verify it.

“NARUTO!!!”

The blonde, who had stirred at the sudden leaping about of his partner, blinked blearily up at him.

Now that he had the idiot’s attention, he couldn’t find words scathing enough to express his disgust. Just then, blue eyes widened almost comically and the scantily clad ninja was making a mad dash for the exit. Sasuke barely had time to release the jutsu on the door before it was thrown open and bare feet raced down the hall.

Sasuke left the door open for the moment, trying to air out the room. Although his first urge was to beat the …no, he didn’t want to beat that out of him at the moment. Although he wanted to beat the dobe half to death, he had to wonder what had upset his stomach so badly. Sasuke snorted derisively to himself. It was probably the ramen. It was more than likely a shock to his system having been without it for so long.

After standing for a few moments, he finally gave up and lay back down. It was almost twenty minutes later that Naruto crept back into the room, closing the door behind him. He had taken two steps toward the bed when Sasuke spoke up. “You’re sleeping on the floor.”

“What? Bullshit I am!”

“I’m not letting you near me,” Sasuke informed him coldly.

“Bastard, you’ll smell it whether I’m on the floor or not. Besides, I think it’s passed through me.” His stomach chose that moment to gurgle out another complaint.

Sasuke gave a growl as he felt the bed dip under the blonde’s weight. “Just keep that damn thing pointed away from me. It’s a freaking bio hazard.”

“Oh, like you’ve never farted or had an upset stomach before,” Naruto sneered.

“Yea, but I’ve never blown toxic emissions out of my ass before,” he argued disdainfully. “I thought we were under attack, that someone was trying to poison us!”

“Fuck you, bastard!”

“Better than me fucking you at the moment!” Sasuke shot back.

There was a shocked silence for a moment that was broken by sudden laughter. Sasuke felt his lips twitch as snickers and snorts made known the blonde’s amusement at the whole situation. Sasuke smothered his own tickling mirth and grumped a “hn” that seemed to lack its usual arrogance.

tbc


Saikoro no Oka = my beta came up with this one... it is Hill of Dice or Dice Hill, thought it would be appropriate for a gambling town :) Many thanks to hs's review for correcting me. Now, off to smack my beta!!