The Sound of Dreams

ANA IS EVIL !!!! /snicker

AN: It's TUESDAY! Do you know what time it is?? NO, it's not Howdy Doody time! (no, I'm not that old.) Hope you like this chapter! You'll have to forgive Sasuke's meandering thoughts in this one... I think he's still in shock, lol. Anyway, enjoy!

Dana - Yes, it is the same Sesame that lost her cousin to Orochimaru!

Ladygizarme - glad you enjoyed... maybe one of these days Sasuke will be able to better express himself! I have hopes for him, hehe.

burr - hehe, thank you!!

sadistickiss - you guys have really surprised me with your enjoyment of Kyuu/Oro so much that I am planning on doing a little more with it than originally planned.. muhahahaha

Total Truth - glad you enjoyed!

Ana La Pana83 - Thanks for catching that... at this point in time I don't think Naruto has to drug poor Sasuke... hell, he barely has to crook his finger!!

Allys - Ah, yes, hot man smex.... *gets a faraway look for a long moment* Ha-hem, lol, *feels the love* As for Wrong Number, I updated and finished on the same day. Just check out my profile and you should find it! /many hugs!!

Animehead - I am glad I can leave you that way!! I am very much enjoying your two fics that you have currently going. Hot and smexxxxy ! So, it's okay not to write a long review as long as you are writing hot chapters!

Nomme de Plume - Kyuubi makes a good prison guard atm!

Nathaniel - *tries to deflate her head some* lol, thanks for all the warm compliments! I am glad you like the story! I have always loved to write, but this is the first time I have put anything up for public viewing and I have to say that it makes me feel great that people are enjoying my work so much!

Avonne - /hugs and snuggles! Glad you enjoyed! And don't worry, things will get much worse before it all ends!!

Luthien - Aye, needless to say Naruto will have to do some very fast talking when it comes to Sasuke and the subject of helping out!

One last thing, there is a lot of thinking going on here by characters in this chapter. Just remember that perspective is skewed by whoever happens to be thinking/talking atm. Thanks for the reviews!! Hope you enjoy, will see you again Saturday!!


Chapter 30


Sasuke woke slowly to the feeling of warmth and contentment. It wasn’t as an unusual of a situation as one would expect, however. He had been experiencing the feelings quite frequently lately. He had started feeling warmth ever since he had started waking up next to a certain blonde idiot. Contentment followed when they had expanded their strange relationship toward something more intimate.

He knew he was fighting hard against the emotions that Naruto seemed to evoke so effortlessly within him. He had to keep his edge. He had to keep the white hot fire of his hate burning to take on his brother. But at times like these, when he was drowsy with sleep and remembering the satisfaction that their pleasure had brought, he could push his vengeance to the back of his mind and enjoy a few moments of peace.

He gently rubbed his cheek against the solid chest beneath his head, sighing at the thought of getting up and leaving this warmth. His hand skimmed down the relaxed muscles of the tanned stomach to tangle gently into coarse, golden colored hair. He idly combed his fingers through the hair a few times before giving into the temptation of running his palm over the velvety skin of the soft phallus.

As the flesh slowly awoke under his touch, he had to admit that he wanted so badly to taste it. He wanted to take it into his mouth and feel it hardening against his stroking tongue. He wanted to suckle it and feel it fill out until he couldn’t hold all of it any longer. He wanted to feel it pulse against the back of his throat, feel the hot splash of Naruto’s ecstasy across the sensitive tissues of his mouth.

He bit back an oath as he felt the aching hardness between his own thighs. Dammit, he had better control than this! He wasn’t some hormonal teenager who only thought about sex. Well, he was a teenager and Naruto had certainly made him aware of his hormones, but he had other things he had to do even if sex happened to be on his mind a lot recently.

Growling under his breath, he tossed the blankets off and stalked towards the bathroom, unmindful of his unclothed state. It wasn’t like anyone else was around. Just the object of his desires.

He turned on the shower and immediately stepped in, hoping the cold water would cool him down. As he stood there in the wet downpour, he couldn’t help but remember what had happened the day before when the blonde had entered the room. Finally admitting defeat, he turned the water a little warmer and reached down to alleviate his need. As he stroked himself, he couldn’t help but hope that somehow his lover would walk into the room again and see him.

**************************
Naruto gave a lazy stretch and a yawn before finally opening his eyes. His bedmate was already gone, only an indented pillow giving proof of his presence the night before. Grunting, he pulled himself out of the bed and fumbled around for some clothes. Since he was no longer cleaning, he was back to wearing his orange pants again as well as the extra shirt for additional comfort. The sword and scabbard had taken up permanent residence against the wall. He grabbed the brush and pulled it haphazardly through his hair, then took it and his orange cord and went in search of Sasuke.

He found the dark-haired man in the kitchen, putting the final touches on breakfast. Onyx eyes glanced up at him and gave him an almost accusatory look.

“What did I do?” he demanded defensively.

“Nothing,” the deep voice answered succinctly.

Naruto gave him a bewildered look, which was ignored. Shaking his head in confusion, he sat down at the table, placing the brush and cord to the side.

Breakfast was placed before him and they ate in silence. Naruto was trying to figure out what he had done to piss off the raven-haired ninja this time when he hadn’t even been awake. The bastard just sat there eating with seeming calm even while giving deadly glares to the teen across from him.

Naruto hurriedly finished his meal. “I don’t know what the hell I did wrong, but I’m not gonna sit here and put up with your shit,” he growled while reaching for the orange cord.

There was the brief sound of chopsticks hitting the table and then pale hands were pushing his out of the way. “Let me do it, moron, before you tangle it up.” The tone was low, but the words didn’t have as much bite to them as before.

Naruto sat, trying not to fidget, while Sasuke carefully brushed out all the knots in his hair. Cool, pale fingers grazed his skin as they deftly wound the bright orange cord, allowing the ends to dangle amidst the blonde-haired queue. The backs of Sasuke's knuckles lingered for a moment against the warm, tanned neck before slowly drawing away.

"I have something for you in the study," he said as he carried dishes to the sink.

Naruto lifted a pale eyebrow, but decided to keep his perverted comments to himself this morning. "New jutsu?" he asked instead, getting excited in spite of Sasuke's weird behavior.

"Yes, thought you might like to learn how to pop in and out of places like the rest of us." He rinsed out the bowls and left them in the sink to wash later.

"Cool, that shouldn't take long to learn. Then I can get back to my wind chakra training." Naruto looked up at Sasuke curiously. "So when are you actually going to start practicing those new techniques instead of just staring at them all day?"

Sasuke gave him a deliberately condescending look. "Unlike some people, I actually study a jutsu before I try it out. I've sorted them out and just now decided which I want to work on. I'm studying the scroll so I can memorize the seals and learn how to actually perform the technique. Once I've learned how it works, then I will start practicing it."

"How boring," Naruto commented with a slight look of distaste. "It's better to just take it out on the field with you and work through it."

"And that reasoning is why I am called the genius and you, the dobe," he replied with a smirk.

"Whatever, bastard. We both know that I'm the better ninja!" he boasted.

"Only in Ramen Land," he smirked, unable to stop himself from goading the younger man.

“Be more respectful when you address the Lord and Master of Ramen Land, non-believer!” he intoned while puffing out his chest.

“Whatever, dobe.” Sasuke gave into the temptation to roll his eyes, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Naruto grinned his bright sunny smile and stood up. “Now show me that jutsu!”

Sasuke led the other shinobi through the dank halls and into their study. Or rather Sasuke’s study since the blonde didn’t really use it. On the desk were neatly arranged stacks of scrolls along with a brush and ink well. Naruto was pretty sure that his friend used a different sorting system than he himself had utilized.

Sasuke picked up a dark blue and white striped scroll that had been set aside and handed it to the blonde. “That should keep you busy for several days at least, if not longer.”

Naruto smirked at him in amusement. “Heh, wanna make a bet on that, teme?”

Sasuke raised a black eyebrow. “What do I get if I win?”

“What do you want?” Naruto countered.

The older shinobi gave him a slow, evil smirk. “I want you. Beneath me. Begging me to fuck you until you scream.” He felt smug as a blush appeared on those scarred cheeks. “What do you want if you win?”

A leer suddenly appeared along with that blush. “The same thing, of course.”

“I don’t beg,” Sasuke growled.

Naruto let out a small huff of a laugh. “Who said anything about you? I said I wanted the same thing. Me. Underneath you. Begging you to fuck me until I scream.” The lecherous look was in full force now. “Why should I let you have all the fun all the time?”

Sasuke tried to swallow around a dry throat as he realized with sudden clarity that either way, he won. Either way, he would have that hot tanned body writhing underneath him.

“Deal,” he said a little hoarsely.

******************
Sasuke’s innate sense of time was telling him that it was early evening already. He set the scroll aside that he was going to start practicing on tomorrow and decided to go look for his dobe. Knowing that baka, he had spent the whole time in the training area trying to learn the jutsu just to win the bet.

Not that winning the bet would change anything.

But he knew that the blonde’s pride could be as touchy as his own, especially when it came to Naruto’s abilities as a ninja. Sasuke had to admit, even if only to himself, that his friend was a talented ninja. Highly unorthodox, but skilled. He couldn’t think of anyone he would rather have at his side.

The elders of Konoha were fools not to have known what a powerful ally they’d had at their disposal had they treated him right.

His fingers unconsciously went up to his neck and rubbed the curse seal. Would he himself have ever seen their weakness had it not been for the snake Sannin? He frowned as he realized that Naruto had many of the same beliefs as the village. But he wasn’t weak. Sasuke thought back to the incident where the dobe just had to release the prisoners. Okay, he could do stupid things, but did that necessarily make him weak?

He then forced himself to think about what the council had proposed and wonder what he himself would have done in their position. Had he not been in lo…lust with the Kyuubi vessel, wouldn’t he want it under control? Yes. Control was everything, Orochimaru had taught him that. So that meant that the council had acted like Orochimaru would have. But they claimed that the snake Sannin was evil (and Sasuke had to agree having witnessed many of his atrocities first hand) so did that mean what they had proposed was evil also?

He shook his head, a little confused by his own internal debate. He didn’t care about politics. He didn’t care about evil versus good. He only cared about killing his brother and he had already demonstrated his willingness to kill and betray to accomplish his goal.

Perhaps that made him evil as well.

He opened the door to the training room and noticed that the chakra barrier was down. Assuming the dobe was gone already, he merely glanced into the room. He stopped short when he saw an orange and black clad figure lying on the floor. An icy fist clenched his guts for the briefest of moments until he saw the steady rise and fall of the chest.

He quickly walked over to the prone body and knelt down to carefully check his vitals. Everything seemed to be all right with the young ninja. He grasped a broad shoulder and shook him gently but firmly.

“Naruto?”

After repeating both the gesture and the name again, the younger boy stirred. Golden eyelashes fluttered upwards to reveal brilliant blue eyes. Pink lips pulled into a smile.

“Told you I would win, bastard,” he said in a soft but smug tone.

Sasuke allowed his eyebrow to raise dubiously. “Oh? I haven’t seen proof of anything yet. Except you lazing around and sleeping on the floor.”

Naruto flashed his fingers through a few seals and his body disappeared with a burst of smoke.

“How’s that for proof?” the blonde said from over by the door.

Sasuke’s eyebrow lowered back down until it met the other in a scowl. “I’m surprised that a dobe like you could figure it out so fast.” Contradicting the look of consternation in his eyes, his voice was one of mild boredom.

‘How the hell did he figure it out so fast? I have to use Sharingan to copy a jutsu to learn it that quickly.’ He felt his jaw tighten as he gritted his teeth. He wouldn’t let the dobe win. He was supposed to be the genius, he was supposed to be the more powerful of the two. Unless…’Did he use the demon to learn it?’

“Screw you, bastard. You’re not the only one who has improved over the years,” Naruto groused good naturedly.

“Yes, but the rest of us have to do it the hard way. We don’t have powerful creatures to help us,” Sasuke murmured, his face as impassive as ever.

Naruto’s eyes widened in hurt surprise. “You think that…the Kyuubi…” His face took on a thunderous look. “That’s going to be your excuse for everything, isn’t it, Sasuke? Anytime that I might be getting better than you, you can blame the damn fox. You just can’t admit that I might be getting stronger all by myself.”

“We both know that you’d be dead by now if it wasn’t for the demon,” Sasuke said harshly.

“The only reason that I would be dead is because you shoved your hand through my chest, you fucking power hungry son of a bitch!” Naruto yelled while clenching his fists.

“Yeah, but we know who won that fight. I was able to walk away after letting you live,” he said with a superior air.

Naruto was sick and tired of Sasuke underestimating him and refusing to acknowledge that he was a worthy ninja on his own. He didn't mind it being a competition between the two of him because he thrived on the rivalry just as much as the other. But dammit, he didn't cut Sasuke down just to make himself feel better! He would show Sasuke what he had learned while that bastard was off being Orochimaru’s little bitch! He would make him eat his words!

He called up a clone and immediately dropped his right hand back, a Rasengan forming in his palm.

**********************
Sai looked around the deserted base. They were currently were in Lightning Country at the base that Tsunade had pointed out on the map. The Raikage had made sure to close the base down once they had found out about it from the released prisoners. As it was, a team of high level Cloud-nin was escorting them on their investigation.

“He was here,” Kiba announced after searching the plush room with Akamaru.

It was one of the few rooms that hadn’t been emptied out yet by the Cloud-nin and only because it was obvious that someone of importance had stayed there. They had been told that the room was slotted to be cleared out in a day or two, so their arrival was just in time. They would have been there earlier but Sai had wanted to see the other lair that had been near the town where Jaraiya had met the other Sannin.

“I told you that Uchiha Sasuke had been here. He was with the other prisoners when we found him,” a woman, Takako if he remembered right, said impatiently. What she didn’t realize was that they weren’t looking for signs of Uchiha but rather Naruto. “And if someone hadn’t let him escape,” she continued, glaring over at a brown-haired man.

“Takako, isn’t it?” Sai interrupted her calmly.

“Yes,” she smiled at him, pleased at having been noticed by him.

“Have you ever thought of having children?” he asked curiously.

“Excuse me?” She sounded confused.

“Children. Your hips are certainly wide enough for them and I read in a book somewhere that lactation causes a woman’s breast size to increase. Something you could use,” he said helpfully.

Kiba immediately slapped both hands over his mouth, trying to stifle the snorting laughs.

The woman pulled herself up and looked like she was about to go for a weapon.

“Takako,” the third member of the Cloud-nin team suddenly barked. “Go cool off for a bit.”

“Yes, Captain,” she growled. She shot a look that promised Sai death if she ever got him alone and stalked out of the room.

“Are you about through?” the captain asked, weariness just barely kept out of his tone.

Sai looked at the others and they nodded. “It would seem so, Captain. Thank you for your time.”

“I wouldn’t suggest coming back this way any time soon. Takako holds a mean grudge.” The older man turned and escorted them out of the base and up into the cool air. “We will accompany you to the border unless you need to talk to our Raikage.”

Sai shook his head. “It is time we headed home,” he murmured.

His team traveled in silence the full day that it took then to make the border. Once they crossed over, the other team disappeared into the woods, but Sai was not dumb enough to believe that they were really gone. He was sure they were watching to make sure that the Leaf-nins truly left.

“So, where to now?” Kiba finally asked once they were out of the area.

“To Grass Country, I believe,” Sai replied.

“Why Grass Country,” Shino asked quietly.

“That is where they went after they left here,” he replied impassively.

“How do you know that?” Hinata asked hesitantly. She wasn’t sure what to think of the other ninja. At times she believed that he deliberately misunderstood what was going on around him just so he could make his cutting observations. At other times she honestly believed that he didn’t realize what impact his words made on others.

“Because that is where Naruto told me they had been,” he replied casually.

Three pairs of eyes turned to him in disbelief. “When did you speak to Naruto?” Kiba demanded.

“The night before we left Fire Country,” came the calm reply.

“Why are they not with us, then,” Shino demanded in his typical composed tone.

“Because we were in the middle of a market place and he did not wish to be taken back to Konoha at that moment. I didn’t want to cause a scene that could possibly get innocent bystanders hurt. The chances of that happening increased once I saw that Uchiha was with him.”

“Shit, he really is with Sasuke?” Kiba asked.

“Of course, where else would he be?” Sai asked curiously.

“Why didn’t we stay with them, like Hokage-sama instructed?” Hinata asked in confusion.

“Well, one, since Sasuke was already pulling a weapon on me, I don’t think we would have been welcome. Two, Hokage-sama wanted us to verify all of our information. So that is what we have been doing.”

“How the hell are we going to find them now?!” Kiba demanded.

Sai gave a careless shrug. “We will find them,” he said confidently.

“Did he say anything about Orochimaru or Kabuto?” Shino asked. He had a feeling that Hokage-sama might appreciate a separate report from the one that Sai was going to write up. He didn’t know what the other ninja was up to, but he wasn’t following orders in the manner that they should be.

“He didn’t say anything about Kabuto and I am not going to assume anything since he has a tendency to turn up when you least expect him. As for Orochimaru, he is sealed up with the Kyuubi.”

“WHAT?!” Kiba squawked. He then noticed that his other teammates hadn’t reacted as he had. But rather they were quiet and a little thoughtful. “Someone mind telling me what is going on here?”

Shino looked at Sai as if to say “You’re the team leader.”

“It’s very simple,” Sai stated. “You’ve been lied to since you were in diapers.”

“Lied to? By who? About what?” It was obvious that the Inuzuka boy had no clue as to what was going on and was confused as hell by it all.

“By every man and woman in the village older than you. By your parents. By your sister. By your sensei. By the Hokage herself.”

Kiba’s eyes were widening in disbelief as Sai continued.

“As to what, about the Kyuubi. Yondaime didn’t kill the beast. He stuffed it inside of an innocent baby and then promptly died. The rest of the village immediately wanted to kill the baby of course, but Sandaime wouldn’t allow it. They took care of the child for a few years, but then left him to live on his own even knowing that most of the villagers hated him. Now that the elders know how powerful he can be, they want him back so they can control him and use him as a weapon.”

Even Shino blinked at the short but chilling summary.

“Sur-Surely, it isn’t th-that way,” the kunoichi stuttered out, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.

Sai gave her a look as if to ask her what other possible way could it be.

“What does this have to do with Orochimaru and Naru…to,” Kiba trailed off, a look of horror crossing his face.

“Yes,” Sai said, an edge of anger finally showing in his voice. “Naruto is the walking prison for the Kyuubi. And now it seems as if Orochimaru has taken up residence as well. That is why they want him back in the village so badly. To be their tool.”

A quiet, but emotion filled voice could be heard in the sudden silence. "N-Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered.

Kiba’s face slowly took on a resolute expression. “We have to help him. He’s our friend.”

TBC