The Sound of Dreams

AN: Glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter!! Got a little bit of smut in this one, but the big event happens in ch 27!! That river in Egypt is getting closer to the delta but still needs to take a few twists and turns to get there!

Thanks for reading and love ya for the reviews!!

Almost forgot to add, have changed reviews so that I am accepting anon reviews for story. So you shouldn't have to be logged in to comment.... I think....

Chapter 23


Sasuke forced himself to maintain a sedate pace despite the fact that he just wanted to grab Naruto by the wrist and drag him back to the room. 'How dare that son of a bitch...' At first he had been curious as to where the dobe was sneaking off. Then he had been concerned when he saw the other figure move into the alley. When he had gotten a good look and saw that it had been his replacement on Team 7, he had been angry that Naruto had lied to him to go see the bastard. And when the sorry sack of shit had dared to lean into his dobe, had dared to touch and nuzzle him, Sasuke had been white hot furious. Nobody had the right to touch Naruto until he decided to let him go. If he ever decided to.

Sasuke stalked through the hotel with Naruto at his heels. He ignored the old woman's concerned look but noticed that Naruto took a second to make a reassuring gesture and give her a smile. If anything his scowl darkened as he reached out and grabbed his "sister" by the scruff of the neck and propelled her through the hallway.

Once inside the room, he kicked the door shut and pushed the other ninja up against the wall. "Drop the henge, now."

Naruto eyed him a bit warily, but dropped the jutsu.

Immediately, Sasuke's hand was firmly around a tanned neck. Naruto's hand went up instinctively to encircle the tensed wrist. The boy's pale body practically vibrated with the effort not to squeeze, not to yell. He fought for control and, after a long moment, won.

"Don't you ever let him touch you like that again," he finally ground out.

Naruto looked at him in bewilderment. "What the hell are you talking about?" He began to wonder if Sasuke really was as crazy as his brother.

"Sai," he practically spat. "That's his name, isn't it? The fucker that replaced me on our team?" He leaned into Naruto, pinning him to the wall. "He seemed awfully familiar with you. Familiar with your body. Did you fuck him before? Maybe wishing it was me?" He pushed his body into the other boy's harder, making it hard for Naruto to breathe.

"What in the hell is wrong with you, you crazy bastard?" Naruto demanded, looking into those red Sharingan eyes. 'The bastard sounds like a jeal...oh my god...' His own eyes widened in sudden realization. "You're jealous! After all that shit you gave me yesterday about you not needing me for anything, you have the nerve to be fucking jealous?!"

Sasuke looked almost startled. "I am not!"

"Yes, you are, you lying bastard! You’re so fucking jealous, you have me pinned to a wall demanding to know about my ex-lovers when you fucking know you are the first one!"

"We're not lovers!" Sasuke denied vehemently.

"Fine! If we aren't lovers and you aren't jealous, then what do you care who I let touch me?" Naruto demanded angrily.

"You're mine, dammit! When you started this between us, you were agreeing to be mine! You can't tell me that you are so fucking oblivious that you didn't know what he was doing. You let him touch you!" Sasuke leaned in until their noses practically met. "Never, ever let anyone but me touch you again or this is over." After that pronouncement, Sasuke jerked back from him and slammed out the door.

Naruto closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. He wanted to call him an asshole. He wanted to call him delusional and a bastard. But then he remembered how he himself had felt when he had thought Orochimaru had been touching Sasuke. He knew that Sai didn't mean anything by his actions. The older boy had just been screwing around with him in his weird, socially abnormal way. He could see how Sasuke could misconstrue it, however. He sighed, realizing he owed the jerk an apology.

*******************
Naruto knew that this had been a possibility for their "escape" out of Fire Country and avoidance of Sound-nin, but he couldn't help but feel that Sasuke had done it purposefully to avoid talking to him.

They were currently traveling with a small-time merchant family and an aspiring artist. While he hated to travel full time in his guise as a female, he really didn't have much option if they wanted to keep their enemies off their trail. He kept his hood up and his face covered until they were well out of town before relaxing his guard. Sai had kept his word and had not tried to detain them. He had a feeling that he would be seeing the other ninja in the future however.

If it hadn’t been for the merchants' two young kids, the trip would have been nerve wracking for the kitsune holder. Sasuke had decided to avoid him as much as humanly possible, traveling on the other side of the merchant’s cart, sleeping as far away in the tent while still being inside of it and not saying more than two words in the last three days.

Naruto had started to worry that maybe something had broken irreparably in their relationship/friendship, but then he found something that gave him a glimmer of hope. A bottle of fruity flavored chewable vitamins that hadn’t been among their purchases the day he had met Sai. Sasuke had bought it after he had stormed off.

That night, Naruto set up their tent and arranged their sleeping blankets together. He wanted to repair the rift that separated them and knew that he would need to take the first step. In the middle of the night, after Sasuke had taken his turn watching the camp, he heard the dark-haired young man enter their tent. He held his breath as the silence seemed to stretch out interminably. There was a muffled ruffling of clothes then a warm body slid into the blankets beside him. He smiled to himself before drifting off into sleep.

*******************
Sasuke woke to find himself curled up into warmth. He lifted his head off of Naruto’s solid chest and studied the relaxed, innocent face in the dim light of pre-dawn. He was glad that the blonde dropped his jutsu at night. As amusing as it was to watch the boy play at being a girl, he preferred his natural body better. He appreciated the strength and power in the form next to him. It was a reminder that, even with everything that laid ahead of them, Naruto could handle it and that he wouldn’t break. In Sasuke’s mind softness equated weakness and he could not respect a companion who was weak. As he allowed his fingertips to trace the familiar whisker marks, he reaffirmed to himself that, indeed, Naruto was very strong to have withstood everything in his life thus far.

The young man beneath him subconsciously pressed into his hand and breathed out his name, causing Sasuke to feel that now familiar tightness in his chest. It had the feeling of talons lightly gripping his heart, the sharp tips pressing hard, just shy of piercing. The other day in the market, he had felt those talons rend him, tearing mercilessly into flesh despite his best efforts to deny their existence.

He leaned down and gently brushed his lips against the lightly chapped ones of his companion. Letting out a shaky breath, he covered the other man’s lips more firmly, wetting them with his tongue. ‘Start slow, build up,’ he reminded himself as he felt the urge to ravage the mouth to appease his swiftly growing hunger. The breath of a soft moan ghosted over his skin as the blonde woke and started responding.

Hands started roaming down his back as their lips met and parted with teasing licks and nips. Sasuke was careful to follow his lead with light nips, soft kisses and licks, willing to admit, to himself at least, that the other knew a little more than he did. Soon, their lips were glistening as their tongues danced back and forth, teasing and tasting.

Naruto blinked as the avenger pulled back to breathe yet again. He gave him a soft smile, thinking how cute the other boy was, but was wise enough not to say it out loud. "Breathe through your nose, silly."

The genius blinked as if the thought had never occurred to him. He immediately dove back in and reclaimed those delicious lips for himself, reveling in their taste and texture. The kisses became deeper, tongues taking turns thrusting and exploring inside each other’s mouths. Stifling their moans and groans, they gave voice to their pleasure through sighs and the tensing of fingers against flesh.

Sasuke slid his hand down until he came to the waistband of Naruto’s boxers (well, his boxers really, but at the moment he didn’t care) and teased his fingertips along the edge. The blonde bit his lip to contain his moan as his hips lifted into the touch. “Tell me what you want,” he demanded against those well-kissed lips.

“You,” Naruto panted softly, “I want you.”

Sasuke deftly reached under the cloth of the boxers and wrapped his fingers around Naruto’s hard length. He immediately dropped his other hand across the other teenager’s mouth as it opened to let out a low cry. “Shh,” he cautioned. “You don’t want them to think I am molesting my own sister, do you?”

The shaggy blonde head shook under his hand and he slowly freed those lips up to be kissed again. Naruto reached down and started tugging on Sasuke’s boxers. He quickly got the idea and stripped them off, then reached to do the same to his friend. Once bare, Naruto urged the dark-haired male to straddle his waist. He swallowed the moan from the man beneath him as his fingers danced over the other’s erection. Even though he had touched the blonde before, he still marveled at the feel beneath his fingertips, that intoxicating mix of velvet and steel that pulsed in his grip.

Sasuke suddenly gasped against those kiss-moistened lips as he felt a rough sturdy grip around his own cock. He shuddered as knowing fingers slid down to his base and stroked with a firm grasp upwards, a thumb sliding over the wet tip. As much as he wanted Naruto’s touch, he wanted to impress upon the blonde who he belonged to more so. He reached down, grasped the sturdy wrist and pinned it above the sunshine locks.

“Together,” Naruto panted urgently. “In your grip, together.”

Sasuke lifted back slightly, at first confused but then quickly understanding. They didn’t call him a genius for the hell of it after all. Lowering himself until their rigid members were pressed thrillingly against each other, he grasped them both in his sweating hand. Naruto arched upwards into the sensation, drawing a harsh breath that sounded loud in the silence of the tent. He began to stroke them together, watching the erotic image of the blonde writhing and whimpering quietly beneath him.

‘Mine,’ he thought with a surge of possessiveness. It was then that he realized with absolute certainty that he would kill anyone who tried to take Naruto away from him. If he had to have this one weakness, this one vulnerability, then he would protect it with all of his strength.

“Sasu…” Naruto said in a strangled tone as he wrapped his free arm around his lover. Sasuke realized that the blonde had stopped breathing, had tensed up and was ready to fly apart.

“Yes,” he hissed, speeding up the rhythm of his hand. His mouth latched desperately onto Naruto’s as the blonde’s head tilted back to the sky, his body arching towards the heavens. Hot seed spilled across their chests, their stomachs, over his hand and onto his own swelling manhood. Nails dug into his back, adding the hot spice of pain to his pleasure. His own release surged forth, splashing over Naruto’s heaving chest. Sasuke buried his face in the crook of the tanned neck, muffling the moan that clawed its way up his throat.

Their muscles slowly relaxed and Sasuke lowered himself partially to the side, ignoring the sticky mess that covered the both of them. They panted as if they had run for miles, silent as they were unable to get enough air for speech and their minds were too dulled by sensation to form coherent thought.

“Sasuke,” Naruto finally whispered quietly once his breathing was back under control.

Sasuke tiredly lifted his head. “Hn?”

“I have t’ go pee,” he half whined.

Sasuke gave a snort of laughter. “Then go pee, dobe.”

“But…that’d mean I have t’ move,” he protested weakly.

Smirking to himself, Sasuke slowly peeled himself away from the other sweaty body. Reaching over to the canteen, he allowed a small bit of fire chakra to leak out and warm the water within. Grabbing a washcloth, he wet it down and cleaned off the various body fluids from his skin. Folding the cloth to a clean side, he did the same for Naruto.

“Thanks, teme.”

“Hn.”

Naruto struggled into his clothes and then stood rather shakily on his feet. A few hand seals later and a young woman stood in his place. She gave a smile and a wink at the other boy and then slipped out of the tent into the stillness before the day.

Sasuke drew in a long breath and let it out evenly. He then laid back and allowed the post-orgasmic lethargy that he had been fighting to take him. After but a few moments, his eyes snapped open in irritation as he realized that he, too, had to go pee.

“Dobe,” he grumbled. Somehow he knew it was the blonde’s fault in some manner.

*********************
He glanced over at Sasuke only to find the other ninja cooking dinner. Apparently cooking took intense concentration since the other was scowling ferociously at the food and refused to look away from his task. Naruto opened his mouth to say something when suddenly that glare was directed his way. His mouth snapped shut and he went back to playing with the kids.

It wasn’t his fault that their resident artist had decided that he was going to start hitting on "the pretty girl.”

***********Earlier That Day**************

They were making decent time considering that they were plodding along at a civilian's pace. They were planning on waiting a few days once they were past the border heading toward Lightning Country before leaving the group and heading west. Once they were away from the travelers, they should only be a day or two away from their goal.

Naruto stretched, wishing he wasn't in his jutsu guise. He could really stand to get in some practice. Hell, at this point he just wanted to be able to move around freely without having to remind himself every few paces to walk like a girl.

The merchant and his wife were friendly enough but after a few conversations about their goods that they sold and their extensive family, Naruto was ready for something more exciting. It wasn't as if he could get into a conversation with Sasuke. Not only would their topics likely be questionable for who they were posing as (not to mention likely to degrade into shouting or fighting), but it was also very hard to carry on a conversation with someone who answered in monosyllables most of the time.

That was why Naruto welcomed the attention from the artist, Togimeishu Ryou. He was an interesting person who had apparently traveled quite a bit with his father when he was younger. His father, according to Ryou, was a doctor of some type (Naruto couldn’t understand the medical term so merely nodded as if impressed) who was extremely skilled. Naruto pointedly ignored the dubious "hn" that this statement garnered from the lurking Shadow of Doom nearby.

The young man was quite attractive with silvery eyes, light colored hair and a very easy smile. Naruto had to admit that if he had never met Sasuke, this man would have tempted his eye. Not knowing that he was really a male, the young painter continued with his efforts to impress the young girl with his worldly travels and tales of other countries. Naruto knew that several of the tales were pure bullshit, but they were entertaining nonetheless. It soon became a game to him to see how much he could stir the young man up into making extravagant statements and then trying to disprove him by things "she" had "read in a book somewhere."

It was when Naruto had excused himself into the tree line that Sasuke followed to "make sure his sister didn't get lost." Once he was out of sight he dropped the jutsu since he didn't particularly care for squatting when it came to taking a leak. At least the bastard had the manners to wait until he had zipped back up before grabbing him and slamming him against a tree.

"You don't learn, do you?" Sasuke growled.

"What the hell did I do now?" Naruto demanded angrily.

"Stop. Flirting. With. Him."

"I'm not flirting! Geez, it's called con-ver-sa-tion. You should try it some time." He scowled at the other young man. "Damn, you are the jealous type. Maybe you should brand me or something," he said sarcastically. His eyes widened as a certain light came on in Sasuke's. "I was joking, teme!" He reached out, slid his hand behind the older teen's neck and pulled him close. After placing his forehead against the other's, he murmured quietly, "You're the one I woke up with this morning. You're the one I will be going to bed with tonight."

"I better be. Now ditch him," he said succinctly.

Naruto sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll go back to being bored."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to complain further.

Naruto rolled his eyes and lifted his hands in mock surrender. He changed back into a female and headed back to their little group.

Unfortunately, Ryou had already decided that he had met the love of his life and wasn't taking the hint.

Which was why at dinner time, Sasuke was glaring holes into the food.

The meal was a silent affair, broken only by Sasuke urging him to eat what vegetables were available and a reminder to take his vitamins. Once dinner was finished and dishes cleaned and put away, they put up the tent with as little conversation.

"Get some sleep, I'll be on first watch," Sasuke finally told the blonde.

Naruto hesitated, wanting to say something to try to alleviate the other's bad mood, but fell silent. He nodded his acquiescence and entered the tent. He dropped the jutsu and stripped down, putting on a pair of Sasuke's boxers in which to sleep.

***********************
Sasuke stepped into the tent much later that night, having taken two shifts of watch since he hadn't felt like sleeping. His eyes adjusted to the dim interior quickly and he saw his blonde friend resting rather pensively under their blankets. He could see the tension in the body easily. As he started to strip down, Naruto stirred, opening his eyes as the soft sounds of cloth on cloth.

"It's just me, dobe," he said softly into the darkness. He got a tired little hum of acknowledgement in return. He slipped under the blankets, snuggling up to the warm body which, in turn, relaxed with his presence. He felt the arm that he was using for a pillow lift up and gently run down his back before falling back down again. Settling comfortably together, they both drifted off to sleep.

The shrill scream piercing the night immediately woke them both up.

TBC