The Sound of Dreams

A/N: Just to clarify, the location that I am using for the "Original Snake's Lair" in this chapter is the Lair that Jaraiya, Naruto and Sakura found in the anime in episode #139. Nomme de Plume, I was able to work in some of Sasuke's pov on their recent encounter in the manga as per your request! :) I am trying not to make anyone OOC, but sometimes it is hard to avoid when you are going on a different tangent than the official storyline. In my fic, Sasuke really comes across as the master of denial, but I guess that is kinda how I see him at times. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
As always, thanks for reading!


Chapter 4


The three selected four-man squads met outside of the Konoha gates. Gai led one team with Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee and Yamanaka Ino. Kurenai led another with Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba. Kakashi led the last with Yamato, Sakura and Sai. Most members were selected for not only their abilities in combat, tracking and scouting, but the ability to help subdue without killing as well.

Kakashi cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention. “We have information that leads us to believe that Orochimaru will be visiting the original underground Sound Village site. We do not know if Uchiha Sasuke will be present. While we believe this information may be correct, we will have to consider the possibility of it being a set-up as well. However, if the information is correct, our official objectives are to regain Sasuke and stop Orochimaru."

"Where's Naruto? I'd think he wouldn't have let the Hokage have a moment's peace until he was allowed to go," Shino asked quietly.

"Naruto has gone ahead of us," Kakashi replied nonchalantly. A glance around at the faces showed him that everyone translated that as the blonde had rushed ahead without waiting. Many wore disapproving but worried frowns.

"Young Naruto is very passionate about his friends and always thinks of others over his own self," Gai said fervently, defending the exuberant young man. "We can only hope that his zest for the springtime of youth has not lead him into danger." Everyone silently agreed to his words, hoping that the blonde fared well.

"There are certain contingencies that you will have to know so you can react accordingly. If Orochimaru is present and there are a low number of enemies, we will engage. If Naruto is also present and has already engaged Orochimaru, no one will interfere or even get near them."

"Are you trying to say that Naruto is a match for Orochimaru?" Ino asked skeptically.

"He can be," Kakashi allowed.

"Damn, remind me to find a Sannin to train with," Kiba muttered. Akamaru barked in agreement. "Ow!" He nursed the growing lump on his head and glared at Kurenai.

"If Sasuke is present, then he will need to be detained. This is more important than attacking Orochimaru."

"You will need to be careful of Sasuke,” Yamato cautioned. “He has learned new techniques just as everyone else has. So far we have witnessed a full-bodied Chidori, incredible speed, swordsmanship and his Sharingan has become more powerful."

Kiba muttered something else under his breath about "Sannin sensei."

Sai suddenly spoke up. "Sasuke will not hesitate to attack with intent to kill. But we need to leave him alive for Naruto's sake."

A few people blinked at that statement as they realized that Sai meant if not for Naruto, he wouldn't care if Sasuke lived or not.

"You spoke of official objectives. Are there any unofficial ones?" Neji asked quietly.

Kakashi took a quiet breath. "If neither Orochimaru nor Sasuke are present, we must try to detain Naruto from trying to locate them."

He knew he was treading the thin line of truth and deception here, but the less who knew of Naruto's actual flight from Konoha the better. Here was the tricky part. To tell them what they needed to know without telling them everything.

"If we find Naruto and his eyes start to turn red, back off. Do not engage him. At that point I will give the signal to Ino and she will do a mind transference on him so that Neji, Hinata and Yamato can shut him down. If things get out of hand we may need your assistance as well, Shino."

"You act as if Naruto will not willingly come back. Just recently Team 7 returned from a failed attempt to reclaim Sasuke. While he was depressed, Naruto seemed more determined than ever. But he still returned. Why is now different?" Neji pressed for an explanation.

"We don't know for sure if it is," Kakashi evaded with a seemingly bored look in his eye. "Let's go."

They all turned and headed to the trees.

******************
They pushed their travel time, trying to catch up as much as they could to the blonde shinobi. It didn't take long to figure out that the renown 'Stamina Freak' hadn't stopped at all in his headlong rush to Sound. While they stopped for a few minutes here and there for a breather, they didn’t linger and moved onward as soon as Kakashi would let them.

In those few moments of rest, Neji and Shino locked eyes and seemed to silently agree that there was more going on than what they had been told. The instructors seemed quiet and kept to themselves, but they all wore identical worried expressions. The only one who didn’t was Kakashi, but his totally blank look seemed worse by comparison. Had Naruto finally snapped? Had his obsession with his former teammate finally pushed him across some line?

Surprisingly out of all the others present, it was Kiba that approached Neji with his own concerns. The Hyuuga wouldn’t have thought that the dog-boy was so observant or perceptive.

“They smell…odd,” he whispered quietly to the other two as they crouched in a large branch above the others. “Almost grim. And Sakura is scared. Something bad happened or they expect it to.” He gave a small frustrated growl. “That baka should have left some mark or something so we don’t have to waste so much time sniffing his trail.”

“You assume that he was thinking clearly at the time,” Shino pointed out softly.

“Yeah, what’s this deal about the red eyes? We’ve all seen him like that at one time or another. It happens usually when he gets pissed off or cornered. He’s never been dangerous though.” Kiba scowled at being left in the dark. He knew his friend was a little weird what with his obsession with all things orange, ramen or Uchiha related, but he had always been loyal and good in a fight.

The other two nodded in agreement. Something was definitely up. Neji started to comment further when a fourth person suddenly joined them on their branch. Sakura looked them over almost searchingly before speaking.

“You guys having a boys only meeting here?” she asked lightly, but they could clearly hear the concerned undertone.

“Just talking about what is up with Naruto,” Kiba said with a shrug. “How they are treating him like he might be...” he trailed off not sure how he wanted to word his feelings.

Sakura took a breath. “Pay attention to what Kakashi has to say. But…if it is just his eyes that are red, we should be fine.” She hesitated. “If you don’t recognize him, or rather… if he looks different…more than just his eyes are red…stay away from him. He doesn’t mean to hurt anyone, but he can’t always control it.”

All three boys were scrutinizing her closely. “Kinda like a berserker rage thing?” Kiba suddenly asked. He knew Naruto could lose his temper something fierce when provoked.

Sakura hesitated and then nodded. “Kinda.” She stood up. “The others are getting ready to leave.”

As she jumped back down off the branch, Shino and Neji shared another long look.

Minutes later, they were all on their way again, rushing towards their friend.

**************
With Hinata and Neji placed strategically to constantly scan for hidden dangers, they cautiously approached the target area. Neji was in front with his greater acuity with the Byakugan in case of traps or enemies while Hinata was part of the rear guard on the lookout for ambushes from behind.

The surrounding area was quiet and calm, showing no sign of danger. Closer in, Neji signaled everyone to a halt. Kakashi stealthily slipped up beside him. "I can see an underground structure up ahead. I can't see the complete tunnel system, but I detect multiple chakra sources inside. Most are high chuunin level, some jounin."

"Can you spot any of our primary targets?" Kakashi knew Neji would have already reported it if he had, but it was best to make sure.

"No."

Just as Kakashi was about to move everyone up, he saw Neji frown. "What?"

"The ninja inside are moving slightly deeper in." He frowned. “There seems to be something going on inside.”

Kakashi signaled and everyone carefully approached the entrance. They were about to descend the stairs when they heard a rumble from ahead and the ground vibrated beneath their feet.

"Enemy incoming!" Neji said quietly but urgently.

Everyone leapt from the stairs in time to see a large group of Sound-nin barrel up the stairs in a full out run. They froze when they saw the Leaf-nin waiting for them, then continued forward while pulling out weapons. As the shinobi from both sides engaged, the sound of earth being rent asunder blasted through the air and was followed by dirt and debris raining down on them.

Almost expecting the entrance to have collapsed, Kakashi looked down but the rubble strewn stairs were still intact. He realized then that the disturbance was further into the woods but powerful enough to throw detritus clear back to the fighting ninja.

He heard a gasp and saw Hinata and Neji both staring wide-eyed into the distance. "What is that?" Hinata cried out softly.

"I've seen something like that before, but not that strong. Not that out of control." Neji stated, his expression blank but his eyes showed that his mind was working furiously.

All around them Sound and Leaf were battling. He and Hinata were guarding each others' backs as they continued scanning the area for more important targets. "I think I have found Orochimaru." His eyes flickered slightly. "He is with... the other chakra signature. They seem to be fighting."

"Ino, Neji, Shino, Hinata, with me," Yamato barked.

The five ninja moved further into the woods after extracting themselves from the battle, trusting their comrades to cover their retreat and continue the fight without them. Sai looked over to see the others departing and immediately finished the Sound-nin off with a stroke of his katana so he could follow.

"Sai!" Kakashi yelled.

Sai glanced over at the jounin. "Sasuke may be Naruto's friend, but Naruto is mine." With that, he allowed a wide but empty smile to stretch his lips and dashed off after the others.

For Yamato it was like watching a reenactment of the first battle between Orochimaru and Naruto. The fiery red aura surrounded the boy so densely that you could not see his true form clearly. Orochimaru dodged arms and teeth of pure chakra striking out at him as well as taijutsu kitsune-style. He didn't have to worry too much about ninjutsu as Naruto was too far gone for much coherent thought.

Orochimaru himself swung his sword, Kusanagi, by his snake-like tongue as his hands formed seals to launch attacks at the fox. Naruto either dodged or shrugged off the jutsus of earth and fire that Orochimaru shot his way continuously, trying to keep his distance from the demon vessel. It was like watching titans clash with the amount of power that was thrown around with ease.

"If Orochimaru is here, Kabuto cannot be far," Sai stated as he joined them. "You might want to look."

Neji shot a glare at the sardonic young man and started scanning the area with his bloodline limit. "On the far side of the clearing. He is not moving."

"He probably won't do anything as long as we don't. Be ready to move once the battle starts resolving," Sai stated calmly.

Neji noted that Yamato took the other's words without question.

Yamato's eyes widened when he saw a familiar large ball of blood red chakra form in front of the fox-like head. "Get ready," he warned them. As Orochimaru moved to doge, Yamato suddenly tangled him up in large branches and vines that sprouted wildly from the ground.

The kitsune seemed to inhale the chakra then spewed forth a blast that leveled trees and pulverized rocks in a path of destruction almost 300 meters long and half as wide. Orochimaru took the brunt of the attack and lay stunned twenty meters further away than where the entwining trees had grabbed him. Not wasting a moment, Naruto immediately charged the downed snake Sannin.

"Ino, be ready," Yamato urged.

As Naruto grabbed the Sannin to deliver the death blow, Yamato signaled Ino.

Several things seemed to happen simultaneously. Kabuto, who had been charging out of the trees suddenly stopped and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The fox form disappeared from around Naruto as he froze in the midst of lifting Orochimaru off the ground by his collar. Ino gazed blankly at Naruto for a moment then screamed out in agony before collapsing. Suddenly moving again, Naruto grabbed a kunai from his holster and drove it almost all the way to the ringed hilt in Orochimaru's throat.

The shock of seeing the creature turning into one of their friends wore off the other team members as Yamato started to concentrate on keeping Kyuubi's chakra at bay. Sai, strangely enough, merely stood there, allowing Naruto to off the snake. Neji teleported out to Naruto, but Naruto danced out of his reach nearer to the discarded sword. He scooped it up and, before Shino's bugs or either Hyuuga could get closer to him, he darted toward the trees. Halfway there, twenty clones appeared and scattered throughout the woods.

"Get him!" Yamato ordered.

Rushing after Naruto, they tried to follow the most likely forms until one by one they popped into smoke. Naruto was nowhere to be found.

"Search the area for any sign of him. Sai go check on the others and get Kiba and Kakashi over here to look for scents." Yamato sighed heavily. "And get Sakura over here to look at Ino."

******************
Sasuke was pissed at having been left behind once again. The damn snake didn't want his precious vessel hurt until he was safely within it. The saner part of Sasuke was uneasy at some level of what he proposed to do, but he brutally shoved that voice down until he could no longer hear it. The only voice he wanted to hear was the one that whispered to him that his vengeance was the only important thing in his life and that he would sell his soul (or in this case his body) to obtain it.

In moments like this however, he noticed this voice lost power the further he was away from Orochimaru. Then he would remind himself that it didn't matter what trepidation he had, his path was set and it would lead to the conclusion on which he based his whole existence. The creepy, voyeuristic snake was the key to his vengeance. He just had to be firm and see it through to the end.

There was only one person that seemed able to contradict the voice that whispered about power and revenge in his ear and he was resolved to kill him the next time they came face to face.

It wasn't for the Mangekyou that he would kill Naruto. If he had wanted to do that he would have done so a little over two and a half years ago at the Valley of the End. While he claimed that he didn't want to follow Itachi's path in killing his best friend, he was honest enough with himself to admit he had been weak then. The bond between him and Naruto had been too strong, ran too deep and would have hurt too damn much to sever at that time. He was stronger now. That bond meant next to nothing to him now. Hell, he probably wouldn't even get the Mangekyou since Naruto meant so little to him now.

No, the real reason why he wanted to kill Naruto, he would only admit when he was alone which was rare and far away from Orochimaru which was rarer still, was that he was frightened (no, he was not afraid... concerned? perturbed..) He was perturbed to think that if he lost sight of his goal, lost the taste of his hate, he would take a step back and realize he had nothing. If he didn't have his vengeance, his goal to end his brother's life, then everything he had done since that day would have no meaning.

In a very short time, he would make the ultimate sacrifice for his clan to secure their souls' peace and to destroy the man responsible for tearing everything good away from him in his life. The brother that had betrayed the one that loved him above all else.

He would kill Naruto because he wanted to, because he could. Naruto could not give him the power that he needed. Naruto could not make him stronger. Naruto was merely a distraction. How much time he wasted thinking about him was proof enough of that. And like any distraction from a goal, you eliminated it. Yes, the next time he saw the dobe he would destroy him.

He should have done so when he had the chance a few weeks ago. It had almost been a shock to see him standing below him in the ruins of what had been his room in the snake’s lair. Just like when he had saved him from Haku, his body had just moved and he had found himself with his arm around the moron’s shoulders. A quiet thought formed in the back of his mind that it had felt good to touch the dobe again. The shock to his body at the touch had been as great as the shock to his mind at seeing him had been. With grim determination, he turned his thoughts away from that course.

'I still can't believe he wears orange,’ he snorted mentally. 'And he's still short.' But his eyes were still so blue. Well, when they weren't red from the demon chakra. 'Now that had been a surprise. That power is wasted in that idiot. I could take Itachi out that much faster with that kind of power.'

He almost shivered thinking about that power combined with his current teachings. No wonder Itachi was after the blonde. That would be another reason to kill the moron, so that Itachi couldn't get to him. Sasuke would rather have that power then to just get rid of it to keep it from his bother however. He wondered if there was a way of taking it without harming its current carrier. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in aggravation at his own thoughts. 'Next time I see him, I will kill him once and for all.'

"Getting your morning brood in, Sasuke-kun?" Kabuto asked sweetly.

Sasuke glared at him but didn't deem him worthy enough to answer. "What are you doing back so early? Where's Orochimaru?"

"Oh, don't worry. We just had a slight change of plans. We will have to meet with the daimyo at another time and location," Kabuto said cheerfully. “We had an unexpected visitor.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Kabuto was happy about something. Kabuto didn't reprimand him for being disrespectful to Orochimaru. Something was seriously wrong. Or at least something was going to seriously piss off Sasuke.

Kabuto glanced toward the direction of the Sound Village and Sasuke automatically followed his gaze. His eyes widened slightly when he saw a blur of orange coming toward them. His jaw tightened and he drew his katana. This was the chance to end this once and for all. As Naruto came down in front of him, he swung his sword almost viciously. There was a ringing of steel as Naruto blocked it with Orochimaru's sword. Sasuke's eyes widened as the thought flit through his mind that the dobe had actually killed his sensei.

"Now, Sasuke-kun, what kind of greeting is that?" Naruto's voice purred at him. The blonde head lifted and a pair of yellow slit eyes met his own.

TBC