The Sound of Dreams

AN: Well, I am going to be out of town from now until Sunday night so I thought I would go ahead and post this today! That means that I won't get to read any reviews until then *pouts* Make sure they're good so I have something to look forward to when I get home *giggle*

Thanks for the 500+ reviews!!! WOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!

As for finding time to go through the "All Things Dobe" box, well between training, angsting and sexing up his dobe, Sasuke is a busy man!!

On a positive note, I have resolved my plot issues and am now happily typing away on chapter 41!! Of course on a sour note, I am down to a 6 chapter lead from the 15 chapter lead I had when I started posting... /sigh (must write more and stare at computer less!!)

Thanks for reading and thanks so much for all your wonderful reviews!

Chapter 35


Hanzaki blinked his eyes in disbelief at the information that Sasame had just imparted to him. It was hard to believe that after everything his clan and countrymen had been through that the snake was really gone.

He did not doubt the word of Jiraiya-sama's student, but there were several things about the story that bothered him. The main thing is why Jiraiya had not bothered to contact him if Orochimaru had been indeed defeated by Konoha. He knew that the legendary Sannin was busy collecting information on the other threat to Fire Country as the older man had passed through their village several times to exchange said information. Not that Hanzaki ever came across much concerning the Akatsuki, but people did talk and sometimes their words ended up in his ears.

The other thing that concerned him was that self-purported Otokage had been imprisoned rather than killed. A shinobi of his level was not something a person took a gamble on. Elimination was always the best method of dealing with someone of his caliber.

Unfortunately, even if he sent a message to Konoha stating he wanted a meeting with the frog hermit, the chances were good that it would be several months before their paths would cross. Perhaps in this instance the wait would be worth the effort.

After having seen the battle site where the two super powers had come to blows, he was astounded anyone had come out alive. According to Sasame, that hadn't even been the area where the Sannin had been defeated, rather it was the area where Uzumaki had been taken prisoner.

The presence of Uchiha Sasuke complicated matters as well. As far as Hanzaki was aware, the young man had not been removed from Konoha's Bingo Book. Although he was willing to allow that if it had happened recently, he might not be aware of it. He was curious at to what circumstances had allowed a traitor who had fled to Orochimaru to survive the wrath of the Hokage.

Perhaps his situation hadn't been too different from that fool Arashi’s. Hanzaki knew that Orochimaru was a master at manipulation. The Uchiha had been young at the time and probably as susceptible to that snake's lies as his own clan had been. He himself might have shamed his family name by breaking away from the clan and turning bandit, but at least he had never fallen for the empty promises bestowed by that man.

Even now more of his clan members came to him wanting to fight against the slow poisoning of their country. As days passed and the promised restoration of their clan to their former glory continued to remain unfulfilled, they became shamefully aware that Orochimaru cared nothing for them and less for their people.

Had it not been for the fear of possible repercussions in the form of the Sannin and the invasion from neighboring lands, they would have elevated Katsuro to daimyo and attempted to eliminate the current Otokage.

Leaving his musing for another time, Hanzaki came to the conclusion that what he needed now was to talk to the two ninjas and to bring their story before Katsuro. If Orochimaru was truly gone, then they needed to take action.

**********************
"N-Naruto!" Sasuke called out as the ninja in question continued to pound into his body.

They were currently sprawled out on the hard floor of the training room, mostly naked and panting heavily. The only thing keeping Sasuke's back from being torn up was the loose gi he was wearing. The rest of his clothes were wildly strewn across the floor along with Naruto's minus his armguards. He was seriously starting to believe the blonde had a fetish for the leather and metal he used to keep his arms and hands safe.

The whole situation had started innocently enough with an intense sparring session when Naruto had taken advantage of a temporarily immobilized Sasuke by leaning down and licking across his bare chest through the open front of his white shirt. The raven-haired nin had frozen in surprise for the briefest of moments, allowing the blonde to further shatter his concentration by latching onto a pink nipple. Things had quickly digressed from there.

That brought them to where they currently were with Sasuke on his back, his arms and legs wrapped around the muscled frame moving frantically but rhythmically inside of him. He had to admit it was working wonders for their cardiovascular health but wasn't doing shit for their taijutsu.

Naruto slipped an arm underneath one of Sasuke's knees and lifted it up to his shoulder, opening him up further to the blonde's thrusts. Just then he hit that spot that washed away all thought and left the dark-haired ninja a writhing, whimpering and moaning mass as sensation swamped his brain.

"That's it, baby! Cum for me!" the blonde demanded as he reached down and began to pump Sasuke's weeping erection.

The words caused Sharingan red eyes to roll backwards as his body clenched and pulled tight. There was one straining moment before he was suddenly arching backwards with a yell. Sasuke saw stars, but he wasn't sure if that was from the pleasure or his head slamming back into the stone floor.

The body above him, warmer than a typical human's, suddenly flooded his insides with a hot burst as a roar reverberated in the open area. Naruto sank into him once, twice more as he rode out his orgasm before slowly lowering himself onto this lover.

Sasuke slowly became aware again as he felt a shaking against his body. He realized that Naruto was still holding most of his weight off of him on his elbows and his exhausted muscles quivered with the effort. He lifted a hand up and ran it through the blonde hair, uncaring if he messed it up since he would just fix it himself later.

"Mine," Naruto stated in a gentle, tender tone as he nuzzled he cheek against the pale, sweaty chest.

Sasuke swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat before affirming, "Yours."

And though they both wouldn’t say it out loud; they both knew what they truly meant.

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Naruto surveyed the remaining food in the pantry as Sasuke dragged stuff out. It was the older teen's turn to cook tonight so he was making a dish into which he could squeeze as many vegetables as possible..

"We're going to need to go to town again soon," Naruto decided. "We're running low on food."

"That's to be expected when we're feeding five people," Sasuke commented casually.

Naruto lifted his head from his current exploration of the refrigerator. "Five?"

"Yes," Sasuke said. He held up one finger. "Me. And you," he said holding up the other four.

Naruto held up a finger as well in a particularly rude gesture. "Bastard."

His friend snorted and pulled out a knife to start chopping veggies. Naruto was impressed with the speed and accuracy he diced up the food until he noticed something.

"Okay, that is just fucking cheating, using the Sharingan to cook with."

Sasuke shot a smirk his direction but didn't comment.

Naruto moved up behind him to peer over his shoulder. A hand wandered down to cup a firm buttock as the other dove in to snatch a slice of carrot. The knife missed his finger by mere millimeters. "Watch it, ass!"

"An ass is the thing you are groping. Stop pilfering food and wait for dinner." The stoic young man went back to chopping.

Naruto gave a big, disappointed sigh. He glanced out the corner of his eye to see if it had any effect on his friend. When said friend didn't react beyond rolling his eyes, Naruto shrugged, groped his ass once more and made his way to the table to wait.

"How are we doing on money?" he asked after a few moments of watching his lover prepare dinner.

"We might need to do more hunting," Sasuke said in answer. "Just stick to the necessities from town. No splurging on anything."

"It's those damn green things you keep pestering me to buy. They're expensive."

"It's winter," Sasuke said by way of explanation.

"Yeah, but everything is expensive in town." He gave a sudden sneaky grin. "If we just bought ramen, our money would stretch further."

The chopping noises stopped and Sasuke slowly turned to give him a look that announced his opinion quite clearly about what he thought of that idea.

"What?" Naruto forced himself to give an innocent whine. "It's just an idea." How he loved yanking on Sasuke's chain.

"Usuratonkachi," came the expected mutter.

Naruto chuckled, enjoying himself. His smile slowly faded as a thought came to him. "How long do you think we'll be staying here?" It was his round-about way of asking when Sasuke thought they would be ready to take on his brother.

Sasuke understood perfectly what he was asking. "Until I think we're ready to leave," was his only answer.

"That's real informative," he grumbled quietly.

"Shut up and set the table."

"Yes, dear," he snickered. There was a loud slam of a pan on the stove and Naruto instinctively ducked, half-expecting a kunai to come flying at him.

Sasuke just gave him a smug look, sufficiently mollified now that he had the dobe cowed.

Naruto cleared his throat in slight embarrassment, hand automatically going to scratch the back of his head. "Why don't I set the table?"

"Why don't you," he drawled dryly.

Naruto quickly set out a couple plates and some chopsticks as well as a wrought iron holder for the hot pan. He then started to make them some tea.

He was reaching up to pull out two cups when he was suddenly pinned against the counter. A pair of hands reached up and gently pulled his one remaining silken shirt down, baring his arms. A kiss was placed against the top of a bicep before those lips nuzzled against his ear. One hand went up in his hair as the other pulled down the collar to his sleeveless shirt, exposing the juncture of his neck.

Naruto felt a jolt of anticipation go through him as a hot breath ghosted over the revealed skin. A wet tongue swiped over the sensitive area, followed by the light brush of teeth. He made a small sound at the back of his throat and tilted his head to the side. A pelvis rolled against his ass as a mouth positioned itself over his shoulder. He made another encouraging sound, wanting to feel those teeth against his flesh.

There was a rush of cold air as the body pulled away from his. "Dinner's ready," a dark voice said quite calmly as the owner walked over to the table.

Naruto took a moment to get his breathing under control before shooting a glare over at his friend. Sasuke raised an inquiring eyebrow, looking the very picture of innocence. Repressing a growl, he pulled the cups down and poured their tea.

Had Sasuke been able to see the sly grin that spread across the whiskered cheeks, he might have been immediately on guard.

"You know," Naruto said as he placed the cup of tea in front of Sasuke. "By now I bet that Fuzzy Eyebrows has finally put the moves on Sakura."

"Hn," the raven-haired nin replied, obviously not really interested except in as much that it would potentially be one less stalker if he ever returned to Konoha.

"Yeah, can you just imagine what the kids will be like? I can't help but hope they inherit Sakura's looks," Naruto continued as he took his own seat.

"Hn." Sasuke went to reach for his tea.

"Although if it is a boy, I hope he gets his father's hair color," Naruto continued. He waited until the cup touched pale lips and started to tilt upward.

"Can you imagine going down on a guy with pink short and curlies?"

Pffffftt.

Naruto busted out laughing, clutching his stomach and trying to stay on his chair.

Sasuke coughed a few times, glaring at the guffawing blonde through his black bangs.

Still snickering, Naruto wiped the tea off his face along with a few tears. He ignored the look directed his way and dished out a large helping of food for himself.

Shaking his head both in consternation and in an attempt to dislodge that particular image, the dark-eyed shinobi served his own meal up as well. He dreaded the next time that he went down on Naruto. He knew that the picture of pink hair would pop into his head the next time he did.

"I've been thinking about teaching you to use a sword," Sasuke calmly announced after Naruto had finally stopped giggling and he himself had successfully blanked his mind.

The blonde gave him a brief surprised look that was immediately followed by a leering grin. "But I thought I was already good at playing with big pointy things."

Sasuke's eyes deliberately flickered down his lover's body before he replied, "No, just small pointy things."

Blue eyes widened in offended disbelief. "I didn't hear you complaining earlier, bastard. Unless you were doing it in between all the screams."

Pink suffused the pale cheeks across from him. "Shut up, dobe. We're talking about sword training."

"That's what I thought," he growled, feeling vindicated.

"The two people we are going to be up against can both use swords. I thought it would be best if you knew something so that you could either defend against them better or maybe even start using that trophy you were carrying around that's collecting dust in our room now," he stated in a rather oblique manner.

Naruto decided to state the point bluntly. "You mean so that Kisame or your brother won't slice and dice me."

Sasuke's lips twitched toward a frown before returning to a neutral position. "Yes."

"Sword training takes a while," Naruto ventured cautiously.

Sasuke ignored the comment and continued eating fastidiously.

Naruto shrugged and shoveled in another mouthful. "I'll never turn down training. No matter what kind," he said around the food.

"How about etiquette," the dark-haired teen scowled.

"You can't fight someone with etiquette," he grumbled.

"Shows how much you know, dobe." Sasuke looked over at him, then decided to actually explain. "Etiquette can be used to make the enemy underestimate you. It can be used to make you appear more respectable so that your opponent will not underestimate you. It can be used to project your sense of honor or to illustrate your opponent's lack thereof. It can be used to impress ladies, but if you ever use it for that I will break your fingers. Also, if you ever want to hold a position of power, it is almost essential so that your allies will take you seriously."

"Break my fingers, huh?"

"Among other things," he intoned, leaving no doubts as to what he meant.

"Works for me," Naruto said, giving a foxy grin.

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Sai watched as the swarm of insects forced the messenger bird down to where it could be readily netted. He had Hinata use her bloodline limit to check for traps on the small container strapped to the bird's foot. She nodded and held the bird out towards Shino. A smaller swarm of bugs crawled over the container, devouring the chakra that powered the trap. Once that was done, Shino nodded toward Sai.

Sai unclipped the container and pulled out the small rolled up slip of paper inside. After reading it, he shook his head and pocketed the paper. "Interesting information for the Hokage but not what we are looking for," he told the others.

Shino finally spoke up in his quiet manner. "We haven't found any trace of any of the four that we are supposed to gain information on here. While we know that this is a Sound lair, none of those four are currently here. The only thing that we do know is that there seems to be a lot of information that flows through here as well as a moderate amount of rare medical herbs. We need to report our findings and move on. This place is no longer relevant to our mission."

Kiba nodded to that assessment as did Hinata, albeit more reluctantly.

"I'm still very curious about the 'monster' that we overheard those ninjas talking about in the basement," Sai said with a studious frown towards the direction of the base.

"It is not relevant," Shino repeated, a bit slower as if to someone who couldn't grasp the concept. "We will make our report and it will be up to Hokage-sama to decide whether to send someone to investigate or not. Now that we have verified this place's existence, we must try to find Naruto."

Sai let his breath out forcefully and turned back to his team. "Very well. We need to head back to Fire Country and pick up his trail there. The last time I saw him, he was heading toward Lightning Country."

Kiba scowled. "You mean we were heading in the same direction and we didn't follow them?" Even Hinata looked confused as to Sai's methods.

Shino shifted slightly, but Sai felt the restrained threat in the motion. Most emotions he wasn't sure how to deal with, but he understood anything to do with combat very well. "What are your intentions for this mission? While we have followed the parameters, you have relegated the more important goals to a standing beneath the secondary goals."

Hinata cut to the chase. "Don't you even care about Naruto-kun?" she demanded, surprising Sai.

Sai cocked his head slightly as he stared at her. He knew that Naruto had not spent a lot of time with the girl while they were in the village. So why did she have such a strong attachment to him? "Of course I care about him. That is why I am trying to give him as much freedom as I can before they capture him and lock him up like an animal."

Shino spoke up again. "Our mission stated that if we couldn't bring him back then we were to stay with him." At this point in time, he was willing to leave that decision alone until they actually found Uzumaki. Finding the blonde was the first priority.

"Yes, but once we find him we have to report it," Kiba pointed out sourly. "Once we report it, they will send others if they want him that badly."

"If you are in enemy territory and the situation is dangerous enough, then reports should be made infrequently if at all and they shouldn't give detailed information," Hinata said slowly in her soft voice. "We don't have to report where we have found him. Not until we can convince him to come with us or find an alternative to his ... problem."

"That's if we find him before he goes with Uchiha to find his brother," Sai added.

"How many fucking shoes do you have left to drop?" Kiba demanded.

Sai lifted an eyebrow and then frowned down at his sandals in confusion.

"How much more haven't you told us," Shino elaborated.

"Oh, besides that Uchiha's brother is working for the organization that killed the jounin Asuma and that they are looking for all the jinchuuriki, including Naruto?" Sai thought for a moment, ignoring the looks on his team's faces. "I think that is about it. If I remember something else, I will let you know."

There was a long pause before Kiba burst out, "We've got to find them!!"

TBC