The Sound of Dreams

AN: /waves enthusiastically !! Couple of quick responses to the reviews then on to the show!

1. As stated in the summary, this is a Naru/Sasu/Naru fic.

2. We are about at the halfway mark in the story if I would have to hazard a guess.

3. Yes, Sasuke picked up the lube while they were in Grass Country. Sorry if I was a little subtle with that one since I never used the words "lube" or "lubrication"! But that was why he was feeling paranoid about everyone having Byakugan.

4. Ana, thanks for catching that error. Sometimes my brain is going faster than my fingers! :)

5. I love you too, animehead, now hurry up and update your stories!! /grin

6. Midnightphoenix, thanks for the link on your homepage!! I appreciate you recommending me!

7. Wempu!!! So good to hear from you, sweetie!! I am glad you are still enjoying the story!

8. Luthien, thanks for this and your previous review! Don't worry about Sasuke becoming mush. While he may be getting a little more in touch with his feelings, he is still a bastard at heart! While falling in love may damage a few brain cells, I don't think it has personality altering effects. After all, if your personality changed after you fell in love, then you aren't the same person that your significant other fell in love with any longer! However, that also doesn't mean that people don't see things differently after falling in love. /grin

9. A big warm welcoming hug to all my fangirls!! WOOT!! I have fangirls!! /blows kisses

10. Ok, I am done rambling now. Have no idea why I numbered this. /boggles

Enjoy the story!!


Chapter 25


They quickly rented a room for the night and dropped off their belongings. They both used the inn's shower facilities and dressed in a not-so-dirty change of clothes before they met back at the room.

"Food?" Naruto suggested hopefully.

"We don't have much money left," Sasuke warned.

"Enough for food?" he asked in the same tone.

"Yeah, we gotta keep you fed. I guess a buffet would be too much to wish for..." He pooled their money together and counted it out carefully. "Don't forget we will need to get supplies when we get to our training area."

"I don't think well on an empty stomach. Let's go eat and then we will think of something."

"Hn," he responded dubiously.

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Sasuke sighed as he divided the remainder of their cash between them. He should have realized by now that feeding Naruto would put a massive dent in what little they had left.

He glanced up at the store they were standing in front of and saw that it was a general goods shop. "Stay here and stay out of trouble." He didn't want to take Naruto inside because the baka always ended up buying stuff they didn't need.

Naruto was about to protest, but Sasuke didn't wait around to listen. He gave a bored sigh and looked around for something to do. His eyes lit up when he spotted a kiosk not too far away.

Sasuke walked out of the store about ten minutes later only to find an empty spot where Naruto was supposed to have been. He glanced around and almost groaned when he saw the blonde at a stand selling games of chance. He hurried over to his friend, hoping he could salvage some of their money.

"What are you doing here, dobe?"

"Playing," came the innocent response.

"Baka, we don't have the cash to spare for games!" he said angrily.

"Don't be such a spoil sport. I only bought a few!" the currently female ninja protested.

Sasuke looked at the small stack of cards. "A few?"

"Well, I bought three and won a little bit. So I used it to buy three more and again won a little. So I am on my next three." He busily scratched off the silver gunk on the last card.

"People never win anything worth while on these things, dobe. I’d have thought you'd know better than this!" Sasuke growled.

Naruto slowly grinned and held up the ninth card. Sasuke's eyes widened incredulously. If he had been a superstitious person, he would be slightly concerned about the coincidence. He watched as the petite female did a little victory dance and then hand the card over to the old man at the register.

"Ohhh, a winner and a nice one, too!" he said with a smile. "Congratulations!" He started counting out bills in front of Sasuke's disbelieving eyes.

"Pure luck," he finally muttered. "You could have just as easily lost all our money."

"But I didn't," Naruto pointed out. "Thanks, jiji!" He quickly counted out half of the winnings and handed it to Sasuke.

"It's yours, dobe," the teenager protested.

"Nah, ours. You gave me half of our cash to begin with." He pressed the money into Sasuke's hand and started off toward the inn. "Let's get back before I make you stop and buy me some more food."

Sasuke looked down at the wad of bills in his hand. "Gods forbid. I don't think we have enough to feed you yet again," he said with a straight face.

"Teme!" the feminine voice growled, punching him on the shoulder.

He allowed a small smirk to curl his lips and nonchalantly threw an arm across the female's shoulders. "Let's get back to the room and get some sleep. I want to leave early tomorrow."

Unlike last time, Naruto seemed content to let his arm rest where it was and made no fuss about being touched so casually. "If we travel fast," Naruto said in a low voice so as not to be overheard, "it should only take a couple days to get there."

Sasuke nodded. "It will be good to get back to training. I think we've wasted enough time."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow but refrained from pointing out that they had been running around under Sasuke's direction. "What about a tent?" he asked.

"We'll make due. It should only be one night. We can either find shelter or do without. I don't want to waste money on something that we won't need for a while," Sasuke replied with a shrug.

"But you never know when you might need one," he pointed out.

"If we need one, we will go buy one. There will be a town close by," he grumbled, irritated by the continued conversation on a topic he saw as resolved and closed.

The thin shoulders under his arm shrugged. "It'll be your ass that's cold."

"Hn." Sasuke didn't feel it necessary to point out that he had someone to keep it warm.

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They were up and gone before the dawn, traveling away from the new day. They made sure to put their ninja skills to use to keep from being noticed as they slipped out of the inn and left town. Once they were an hour out, Naruto dropped his jutsu and resolved not to use it again any time soon. He relaxed back into his own skin and let his exuberance translate itself into movement. They made good time that day.


Sasuke kept himself moving by sheer willpower. It was almost dark and they had stopped only long enough to eat a lunch of fish by a stream and to tend to nature calls during the day. Naruto set the pace and hadn't slowed down once.

Sasuke barely had time to realize that his friend had stopped before halting himself so he wouldn't slam into him. He settled himself on the tree branch and his exhausted body took it as a sign they were stopping for the night.

Naruto tapped him on the shoulder and pointed down to an old abandoned shrine.

Sasuke forced himself to merely nod and not to sigh in relief.

They both hopped down to the forest floor below and approached the dilapidated structure. After scouring the area and not finding any recent signs of activity, they approached the handful of wooden steps leading up to the entrance. A small rusted bell hung precariously from a stretch of rotting rope, appearing ready to fall at the slightest provocation. There was an indefinable lump of stone upon a small altar under the shelter of the rickety eaves, giving no clues as to what or to whom the shrine was dedicated.

Naruto paused to bow and give his respects to whatever presence might still remain. Sasuke went to walk past him and he gave him a sharp rap on the shoulder. When the older boy scowled at him, he merely nodded up to the stone work meaningfully. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a sigh, but stopped to pay his respects as well. Only afterwards, was Naruto willing to step inside the tiny, run down building.

The floor was more dirt than stone after having sat empty for so long. There were large gaps in the wooden walls and ceiling, but it was still solid enough to give them shelter from the elements. The remnants of what might once have been a fire pit was half buried in the center of the room. Their entrance into the area sent several small shadows scurrying away in fright.

"Want to make some tea?" Naruto asked quietly. It wasn't through reverence that he talked softly. Frankly, he was slightly worried about what might be lingering in the long forgotten shrine. He could face hordes of missing-nin and dozens of Orochimaru's mutated abominations, but the thought of a ghost scared the hell out of him.

Sasuke shook his head. "I'd be afraid of this death trap catching ablaze."

"Show some respect," Naruto admonished. "You might piss something off."

Sasuke gave a snort. "Moron."

"Fine, when some angry spirit comes to drag someone off, I will make sure I am not the one that got it mad."

"Give me a break." Sasuke pulled out their blankets and picked out a corner that looked relatively clean. He wrapped himself up and settled down against the wall, easing against it to make sure it held. "Come on. Let's get some sleep."

Naruto looked around a little warily, then grabbed his own blanket and settled next to his friend. It wasn't long at all before Sasuke was leaning against him, sound asleep.

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"Wake up, teme. It's time to go," a soft voice whispered in his ear. A hand gently caressed his cheek and he couldn't help but lean into it. He wanted to drift in this partial wakefulness for a while longer and let that hand pet him. Winter chapped lips brushed teasingly across his own before he felt a tongue wet them both at the same time with a slow swipe. Instinctively, his own tongue slipped out to lick at the wetness on his lips.

The hand slid back into blue-black hair and tilted his head so that the other tongue could nudge his mouth open. Once his lips parted, that wetness dove into the warmth of his mouth and started stirring the banked heat of his desire. He quickly remembered to breathe through his nose as the kiss went on. It teased and tantalized his senses until he gave into the temptation to press harder and to let the nibbles become nips.

Naruto moaned as the kisses grew more fervent. He could easily get lost in their passion. However, as he remembered where they were, he reluctantly pulled away. Sasuke tried to follow him as he pulled his head back, but he tightened his grip in the black locks. The pale skinned youth made a delicious, needy noise in the back of his throat and slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were dilated out, almost obscuring the tint of grey-black in his dark eyes.

"I," Naruto cleared his throat and tried again. "I would love to keep kissing you, but we are in a shrine and we do have to get moving unless we want to spend another night out in the open."

Sasuke hesitated then gave a disgruntled nod. He pulled himself away unhurriedly from the other and gained his feet. From the corner of his eye he noticed Naruto watching him, so he allowed himself a long stretch. He smirked inwardly as those blue eyes roved over his body in appreciation. He relaxed and ran a hand through his ruffled hair. "Let's go."

They put away their blankets, grabbed a bit of trail mix for breakfast and then headed out.

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Naruto looked over at Sasuke and could tell that the dark-haired shinobi was having second thoughts.

"I really think this will work," he stated confidently.

"Hn."

"Seriously, it's perfect," he assured the other boy.

"Hn."

"Well, if you weren't happy with the situation, you should have said something before now," Naruto growled. "And don't you fucking dare say-"

"Hn."

"Bastard!" Naruto spun on his companion. "I didn't hear you complaining when we started out!"

"Don't get all excited, dobe. It'll have to do," Sasuke stated flatly.

"It's out of the way, but yet close to a town. Nobody would think to look for us here. We just have to use the section that doesn't have holes in the ceiling," Naruto said persuasively.

They walked down the rubble strewn stairs and entered the long abandoned underground lair. Sasuke took the lead, keeping an eye out for any surviving traps. After all, if Orochimaru had been here several months ago, he might have had some of the defenses reset just to keep trespassers wary of the place. They came to a place where the hall branched off in three directions in front of them.

"The right should be in one piece," Naruto said. "The first time I came here, we put a hole in the section down to the left. The second time, I put a hole in the ceiling down the center area. I've never been to the right before."

"People know about this place," Sasuke pointed out with a frown. "It may not be secure."

"People know about it but only because it was shut down three years ago and because of the fight I had with the snake bastard a while back. Because people know about it, no one in their right minds would try to use it as a hideout."

"Baka, that is exactly what we are thinking about doing," Sasuke growled.

"Yeah, but only because no body would think that anybody would do it!" Naruto said as if delivering a telling blow.

"And that makes sense how?" he asked dubiously.

"It makes perfect sense! Nobody is here because everybody knows about it. So nobody uses it. So we can use it and not have to worry about anybody showing up."

"Hn."

Naruto repressed the sudden urge to harm his comrade. "Look, just trust me, okay?"

Declining to answer, Sasuke led them down the right hand fork, deeper into the lair.

Surprisingly, the place hadn't been thoroughly looted. That was more than likely due to the several unsprung traps that Sasuke found lurking about the place. Medical supplies and any non-perishable food had been removed, but larger things like furniture and equipment still remained. Of course the medical supplies and food was easier to get past the traps without setting them off while the larger items would have almost guaranteed someone's death.

After thoroughly examining the base, Sasuke started formulating a plan on how to make it livable for the two of them. He realized that they would be here for quite some time (barring being discovered) while they studied the new techniques that he had looted from the other bases.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he murmured.

"Where do you want to start?" the blonde asked.

"It's a little late to start tonight. Let's get a fire going, get some hot food and some rest. We'll start in the morning."

"I'll cook, you find some firewood. I'll find us a room to cook in."

Sasuke nodded and headed out to demolish some furniture.

Naruto found a fireplace that looked in decent repair and pulled out some of their supplies. Sasuke came back shortly with what looked like a few broken up chairs. Once they had the fire going, food was just a half hour away.

"There will be electricity out here since this place was officially a part of Sound," Sasuke said. "We will just have to find the circuit breakers and turn it on. But keep it just to the areas we are using. No sense in attracting attention. With power, we will have running water since the well uses an electric pump."

Naruto dished out some rice with a smattering of dried meat in it along with some bread and a few sliced apples. He poured them both some tea and settled down to eat.

"The infirmary was on the other side, but we really shouldn't need one. We can just make sure we have some first aid supplies on hand. The kitchens are over here, so that should help with the quality of food we can store and prepare." Sasuke had the air of one who was making mental lists as he talked. Naruto had a feeling he wouldn't even be saying it out loud except as a consideration to him.

"We will need to set up someplace to sleep and find sheets, towels and things like that. Hopefully the mice haven't carried everything away," the blonde added thoughtfully.

"We will need to collapse a few tunnels to close them off from the other areas. We might also have to open up a few to access the training area here. It's in one piece but not accessible unless you go through one of the other areas. I want to make sure that no one can sneak into here without going through whatever tunnels we designate. That way we can set up early warning traps through the halls that we leave open." Sasuke was silent, going through the logistics of what they had to do. "I also have a scroll that will allow me to set up a chakra barrier inside of the training room. That way we can train as hard as we need to without worrying that someone might sense us."

"We also need to clean up everything. I don't fancy living with all this dust and dirt everywhere," Naruto said with a scrunched nose.

"Sounds like a job for kage bushin," Sasuke smirked.

"How come I have to clean and you get to do all the cool stuff?" he whined.

"Because I'm the genius," he said smugly.

"Bastard, I'm not totally useless when it comes to fixing stuff up. I had to do it often enough at my apartment. No one was ever "available" when something broke, so I ended up fixing things myself most of the time." His voice had dropped to a whisper towards the end of his words.

Naruto fell silent as he thought about Konoha. He missed everyone, all of his friends, all of his precious people. But they were a minority to the ones that wanted him either dead or restricted to the village. It was the council's fault. If they had stood behind him, the others would have treated him better. Then maybe he would have stood a chance on becoming Hokage. Maybe they would have listened when he told them how much he cared for the village and how much he would have sacrificed to protect them.

His thoughts suddenly stopped when he realized that he had been unwilling to sacrifice Sasuke for them. Granted, it wasn't for their immediate protection, but he had removed himself from them, had removed himself from protecting them when it came to letting Sasuke go.

He would do it again in a heartbeat.

"Dobe, you're off in ramen-land again." Sasuke's deep velvety voice interrupted his revelations.

Naruto tried to fix a smile on his face, but it was half-hearted at best. "Just thinkin'," he shrugged.

"About?" he asked, curious despite his inability to admit it.

"Ho-...Konoha," he said, voice dropping to a whisper. It wasn't home anymore. At least not until Sasuke decided to return.

"I guess you miss everyone," Sasuke surmised in a murmur.

The blonde head nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"So, what really happened? I know it's more than just you deciding to leave to come rescue me." Oddly enough, the last wasn't said with sarcasm or condescension.

Naruto shifted uneasily. "They weren't going to let me look for you any longer. So I had to leave when I did."

Sasuke looked over at his friend in surprise, unsure if he understood what the boy was saying correctly. "You mean you just left? Without permission?"

"They were going to confine me to the village. To keep me away from Akatsuki. No missions, no nothing." His face gave a sudden twist towards bitterness. "The damn council wants to put a seal on me and leash me. They don't trust me."

The raven-haired young man fell silent, unsure of what to say. The concept of Naruto not being able to be a ninja was too difficult to wrap his mind around. He didn't blame the blonde for leaving; he would have done the same.

Naruto hesitated and then asked quietly. "Hey, Sasuke, what do you plan on doing after you get your revenge?"

Sasuke looked over at the low burning fire. "I don't really know. I never really thought I would live past it."

Naruto's blue gaze shot over to him, a dismayed look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said, dobe," he growled. "I expect it to be a mutual kill."

"But, Sasuke-"

"Enough," he cut him off but not harshly. "I don't want to talk about it." He stood and looked down at the blonde. "Get some rest; we have a lot to do. I'll be back in a bit." With that, he strode out of the room.

Naruto sighed and looked into the fire. He wouldn't let Sasuke die. He couldn't let him go. It was selfish of him in a way and he realized it, but he couldn't lose him. Sasuke was everything to him and the only thing he had left.

TBC