The Sound of Dreams

AN: Thanks for all your lovely reviews!! You guys really make this a worth-while endeavor! I’m glad so many of you liked the Kakashi & Iruka scene!! I’m going to try to get a few chapters written this weekend. I am in the middle of 53 right now and I have to say that I am not sure exactly how many will be left. I know we were looking around 60ish, but you know how things go. It will probably run a little bit longer as new scenes make an appearance.

If I can’t get some writing done, I will have to seriously consider bumping my updates back to once a week until I get some work done. I’m hoping it won’t come to that! I really don’t want to change my name and get an unlisted phone number! It isn’t a lack of inspiration but rather a lack of time at the moment. As I have said before, relatives, work is getting busier, etc. But I will do my best!! I will let you know Tuesday how things went!!

Animehead: I am still eagerly awaiting the that Uzumaki/Uchiha scene for your story!!! Can’t get the idea out of my mind!! Thanks for the wonderful words!

Roro: At this point in time, I do not plan on having Mpreg in this story. This is my more realistic/cannon-based fic and I want to keep it as close to the Kishimoto-written universe as possible. A story with mpreg in it in the future is possible as I am not opposed to mpreg at all!

Armina: Last chapter, Sakura was going to go to Shikamaru for help in finding a way to find Naruto and Sasuke. There was no mention of her going to him in any kind of romantic way! :) Don’t worry, I already have a few plans for Sakura!

Allys: Yeah, I saw the filler! I realized after I came up with the idea that it resembled the episode to some extent, but then thought “what the hell, go for it!” By the way, wanted to say that I saw the artwork you did for “D/s Naruto” and thought it was REALLY hot!! I tried to leave a review for you, but my internet was apparently hating me that day or something. /much love

Hina88: It does appear as if Iruka and Kakashi are frequently locking horns. I can’t help but notice that Iruka seems to be one of the few people that doesn’t worship the ground that Kakashi walks on and will actually stand up to him.

Neji-chan: Thanks for the wonderful review! I’m really glad that you are enjoying the story so much and I hope that I can continue to keep you enthralled!! /hugs

Thanks so much everyone!! /hugs all around!!

Chapter 49


Naruto slowly surfaced to consciousness. He had vague remembrances of lying in shallow water, watching red mist move above his head. He recalled the giant fox holding down a rather pissed off Sannin under one paw as it worked on purging his system of the chakra impairing poison.

“Ah, you’re awake, good,” Shino’s voice said quietly.

Naruto blinked his eyes open to bring a plain stone ceiling into focus. He slowly moved his head to the side to see Sai stretched out with the two unconscious members of Team Eight (three counting Akamaru) on the ground. They seemed to be sporting numerous bandages. His eyes then slid to the other side to see Sasuke stretched out next to him with Sasame on further. He didn’t appear to be injured.

“What happened?” he asked groggily.

“That’s what I was about to ask you,” Shino replied.

Naruto frowned as his memory stirred. “We walked into this room and this fog came out of nowhere. Then there were smoke bombs; they smelled like shit. Then there were the fucking snakes. After that some strange wolf-like creature attacked.” He hesitated. “It was really weird, one moment it was attacking me and then the next it was acting all submissive and stuff.”

“From the wounds on the others it looks as if you were all under some form of a genjutsu that made you see each other as enemies,” Shino explained. “The others haven’t shown any signs of recovering yet. I don’t know if that is from the snake poison or not. I can only assume that you’re awake since you heal faster than the others.”

“Do we need to go get help?” he asked worriedly.

“Their condition doesn’t seem to be getting worse,” Shino said thoughtfully. “But we can’t just wait indefinitely. You all have been out since yesterday. If no one else is awake by tomorrow, I would say we need to send for help. Can you access your chakra?”

Naruto sat up and brought his hands together, a look of concentration on his face as he molded his chakra. “Yeah,” he answered after he let the power sink back into him. “I’m good now.”

“That gives us hope that the others will recover then,” he murmured.

Naruto hesitated and then spoke up. “But Kyuubi cleaned out my system. I don’t know if it would have gone away naturally or not.”

Shino frowned at the news.

Naruto’s stomach took that opportunity to complain loudly. His eyes widened slightly. “Is there a bathroom nearby?”

The other teen nodded. “There’s one two doors down to the right. Kiba’s team had passed through it before they set off the trap. It’s safe.”

Naruto was already up and practically out the door. Kyuubi might have cleaned out the poison, but it didn’t just magically disappear and his body was trying to rid itself of the foreign materials.

Some time later, he returned looking a bit pale, but his expression was more relaxed.

“We still need to see if there is any useful information in this place,” he muttered.

“I would suggest against it,” Shino advised. “Five of our members are down and we don’t know when they will recover or even if they will recover. We know that the place is abandoned, but trapped. We need to fall back, regroup and try again.”

Naruto frowned, not liking the fact that, in his mind, they had failed in their mission.

“Our goal was to take out Kyoshiro. He is not here, so therefore our goal cannot be met at this time,” Shino further pointed out after noticing the look on Naruto’s face.

Heaving a sigh, Naruto reluctantly nodded. “What about the basement?” he asked suddenly.

“I doubt they left their monster down there,” Shino said after a moment’s thought. “If it was valuable, they took it with them. If it wasn’t, they would have released it up here to take out intruders.”

“Unless they have it guarding something specific and didn’t want it stumbling into the traps,” Naruto pointed out.

“Either way, I don’t think we are up to taking on anything powerful at this time,” Shino said with a shrug.

Naruto nodded in reluctant agreement and fell silent for a few moments. “You ready to travel?” he asked finally.

“I am fine,” Shino stated. “The question would be if you’re ready since you’re the one that just woke up.”

Naruto’s gaze swept over his friends’ still forms. “Even if I wasn’t, I’m better off than they are and they need our help.” He brought his fingers together in a familiar shape. “Let’s get them back and get them medical attention.”

With a muttered “Kage Bushin no jutsu,” several clones appeared around the blonde teen. He felt queasy to his stomach for a long moment before the feeling subsided.

The clones moved over to his friends and began to pick them up, maneuvering them onto their backs. While he personally had wanted to carry Sasuke, the clones were having a hard time trying to hoist Akamaru without getting crushed in the process. Sighing, he moved over and lifted the heavy canine onto his shoulders, wearing him like a fur wrap.

Once everyone was secure, they started the long trek back to the village.

**********************
It had taken them three days to get to the base in Grass Country moving at ninja speeds. Carrying their comrades necessitated moving slower and Naruto estimated it would probably take them twice that to get back.

Sasuke regained consciousness on the second day out.

“Hold up,” one of his clones called as the Uchiha started to stir against the clone’s back.

They all slowed to a halt as the clone set Sasuke down on a branch.

“Hey, bastard,” Naruto said with a smile. He carefully set Akamaru down and went to kneel by his lover. “How’re you feeling?”

Sasuke ran a hand over his face and blinked a few times. “Been better,” he muttered. He looked around to get his bearings. His eyes fell on the other shinobi being carried. “I take it we all fell into the trap?”

“Heh, yeah, you could say something like that,” Naruto said with a sheepish grin.

“Can you tell us anything about the snakes?” Shino asked, his voice devoid of inflection.

Sasuke shrugged. “The venom is annoying, but not deadly. They should wake up anytime between now and a few days from now. Depends on how badly the venom messed with their chakra flow.”

Naruto held out a canteen to the other teen and watched as he tilted his head back and rapidly began to swallow, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the motion.

Before Naruto could caution him to take it easy, he stopped drinking to take a deep breath. He handed the canteen back and began to stand to his feet.

“You okay to travel?” Naruto asked in concern. He could see that the other teen was wavering on his feet, the poison in his system still having effects on his equilibrium.

“I’m fine,” Sasuke replied with a scowl.

Naruto rolled his eyes before directing them in a look at his clone. The clone nodded almost imperceptibly, understanding that he wanted it to stay next to the Uchiha in case it was needed.

They continued onward, their pace preventing very much interaction between the teens. If they weren’t traveling then they were on watch while the others slept. At least at night Naruto got to spend a few hours cuddled up with his raven-haired friend.

The next to wake up was Sai. As soon as he had found out what had happened, he had insisted on carrying Hinata himself. He had suffered only minor injuries since, without her chakra, most of her attacks were basic taijutsu which he was also well trained in and was able to avoid. However, he had used his sword when he had fought her and had left several shallow wounds on her body.

Naruto had at first surrendered Hinata’s still unconscious form. However, when the older boy had stumbled and almost dropped her as they were traveling through the trees, Naruto took the girl back and forced Sai to allow a clone to carry him as well. It was a measure of how badly he was feeling when he gave into Naruto’s demands with only minor protest.

On the fifth day they finally entered the village.

Naruto looked around in confusion, a sinking feeling dropping into his stomach. He recognized the marks on various surfaces left by weapons, the black smear of soot from fire that edged several buildings and the deserted streets stank of recent fear.

They wordlessly agreed to stick to the shadows as they made their way to Hanzaki’s headquarters, the gentleman’s club.

It was a surprise when they were met with hard faces and bared weapons at first. However, once the two guards, barely older than a genin would be, saw Sasame they reluctantly let the Leaf-nin inside.

Once everyone was settled down onto futons in a room large enough, Naruto turned to one of the young shinobi. “Where’s Hanzaki?”

The boy’s face hardened a moment before he muttered an “I’ll get someone.” He turned and raced from the room, not wanting to leave the foreigners without supervision longer than necessary. Ten minutes later the boy was back so that he could watch them, but he was alone.

Sasuke raised an elegant, dark brow at the preteen and the kid shifted uneasily under the dark gaze. “Your arrival has been announced,” he muttered while tearing his eyes away from the Uchiha’s.

Another ten minutes went by before the door opened again. Inside stepped an older woman carrying what looked to be a large medical kit that was usually lugged around by someone who knew what they were doing as well as two adult shinobi. Both men scrutinized the assembled ninja suspiciously. Naruto could tell that they both had wounds from whatever battle had occurred.

As the woman began looking over the injured, one of the men pulled the young boy aside and spoke in a low tone to him. The boy darted out of the door and the quick patter of feet ran off down the hallway. A few moments later the door opened again to readmit the boy. He quickly whispered to the older man and the man nodded in acknowledgement.

“Our leader is ready to speak to you now,” he announced in a deep tone.

“I’ll stay here,” Shino volunteered. He didn’t want to leave his teammates behind with the strange tension in the air and he knew that Naruto and Sasuke were more familiar with the individuals in the village.

Sai beamed a happy smile at Shino, who ignored it completely.

Sasuke and Naruto stood and followed the older man as he led them down the hall and to the room Hanzaki used. The man nodded to the two shinobi stationed on either side of the door. Naruto noticed that they, too, looked like they had been in a recent fight. He also noticed that they were uneasy around each other and not just because he and Sasuke were present.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed slightly as they were led into the room. His eye for detail immediately picked up the fact that the lacquered table was missing and all of the cushions had been replaced. The faintest traces of stains could be seen on some of the walls as well as the floor. They had been scrubbed, but clearly they hadn’t had time to repaint or revarnish anything. Noting how high some of the stains were, his eyes automatically lifted where he was able to see the rusty red color clearly on the ceiling.

“It’s good to see that you are alive,” a voice that was not Hanzaki’s stated quietly.

Naruto had immediately noticed that Hanzaki was not present. Instead, Ren, the man who had entered his mind via Sasuke’s Sharingan, sat on the cushion at the head of the room. His flowing grey kimono hid his body completely below the neck so it was impossible to tell what his state of health was. Flanking him were two more guards, these ones older and harder looking than they had seen previously.

“You may leave,” Ren said calmly, looking at their escort.

The man bowed before leaving. Oddly enough, his guards relaxed slightly when the other man left.

Naruto, with all the tact and subtly at his disposal, addressed the elder. “Hey, old man,” he greeted casually, “Where’s Hanzaki?”

Sasuke twitched with the effort of preventing his eyes from rolling.

Ren calmly gestured for the two teens to sit. Once they had done so, he answered the question. “Hanzaki is no longer among us. He was slain about a week ago.”

Naruto’s eyes widened before he scowled. “Who’s responsible? And what happened while we were gone? It looks like you all were attacked!” he said angrily.

“As for who is responsible, we aren’t completely sure, although many suspect Hiroki. As for what happened,” here he paused as Naruto made an incredulous noise.

“Hiroki? As in the little rug rat?” he demanded in disbelief.

Ren nodded once. “Indeed. A girl that everyone knew well had brought in tea for Hanzaki while the boy was in the room. There were a few screams and when the guards entered the room, the boy was the only one left alive.”

“Is that the only proof you have?” Naruto practically yelled. He ignored the calming hand placed on his shoulder.

“He was covered in blood and he had…changed.” Ren overrode Naruto as the blonde opened his mouth for another furious retort. “However,” he emphasized, “with recent events, it is likely that the boy was merely defending himself, not that he has spoken to tell us what happened.”

Naruto looked both righteously indignant as well as confused so Sasuke stepped in before his friend could blow his top. “Explain.”

“You missed a very brief civil unrest,” Ren said dryly. “The clan members who had originally supported Orochimaru had apparently infiltrated our numbers. A small group of shinobi from another area met with those men with orders from someone, we suspect Kyoshiro, to attack our village. People we thought we knew and trusted turned on us and there were many deaths. Apparently killing the new Otokage had been their main goal, one which they accomplished with appalling ease.”

“So the girl had been a plant all along?” Sasuke stated.

“It seems so,” Ren acknowledged. “However, after what they had seen when they had entered the room, no one will willingly come near the boy.”

Naruto felt a sympathetic clenching of his heart. He knew what it was like to be scorned, to have people hate and fear what you were.

“As great as our losses were and as much as I feel sorry for the child, there are more important things we need to discuss,” Ren stated carefully.

“Such as?” Sasuke asked. He could tell that Naruto was still upset over the whole situation with Hanzaki, the village and the boy, but he didn’t know what to do to give him comfort here in front of others. He didn’t think his friend would want to show that kind of weakness in front of strangers or at least he knew that he himself wouldn’t want to.

“Right now we need to prevent a war from breaking out with Kingin,” Ren stated calmly, referring to the neighboring country that they had been at war with previously. “We were informed yesterday that the daimyo’s son has been kidnapped by men from Kingin. If we are unable to retrieve him, I have no doubt that we will go to war. They are the ones responsible for the death of the daimyo’s wife many years ago when we fought them before. The daimyo will not let this go if his son is harmed. What we experienced here will be just a minor skirmish compared to what will occur if that happens.”

Ren looked over the two teens carefully. “I want you two to go and rescue him. If you do this for us, then we will ask nothing more of you. You will still be welcome to stay here. We will continue to shelter and hide you, asking nothing in return. Normally, I would have our own go and retrieve Katsuro, but as you can see we are still recovering and we need to defend ourselves from further possible attack.

“The ones who took him are more than likely shinobi. Katsuro’s guards were disabled with barely any resistance and the boy was taken from the daimyo’s home in broad daylight. I am very confident that between you two, you will have very little trouble in retrieving him.”

“What about our friends?” Naruto asked.

“We will take care of them and make sure they return to health,” Ren assured him.

“When we got to the base, it was already deserted. There are traps set up, but it doesn’t look like anything besides some nasty snakes are left alive in there,” Naruto reported belatedly.

Ren nodded. “I am sure I will get a full report from Sasame. Rest for a few hours and then be ready to leave. The faster we get him back, the easier it will be to avoid a war.”

“What are you going to do with him?” Naruto suddenly asked.

Ren raised an eyebrow in askance.

“Hiroki. What are you planning on doing with him?”

“We will try to find someone who is willing to take him in,” he said in a tone that indicated a shrug although he did not physically do so.

“I will,” Naruto said with a look of determination. “I’ll take him in.”

Sasuke whipped his head around in surprise. What the hell was the dobe thinking? They were only sixteen themselves, what the hell were they supposed to do with a brat? What the hell were they going to do with him when they went off looking for Itachi?!

“I don’t want him to be with someone that will hate him or be afraid of him for something that is not his fault. I don’t want him to be alone because people refuse to acknowledge him for the person he is,” Naruto growled out in explanation.

Sasuke saw the pained look in those blue eyes and understood. Naruto didn’t want the kid growing up the way that he had, with all of the villagers hating him, cold, lonely and alone.

“Are you sure?” Ren asked. “You are young for such a responsibility.”

“If I can’t take care of him, at least I can find someone that I can trust that will,” he said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ren finally nodded ever so slightly, his eyes displaying an understanding. “Very well, it is done.”

“Where is he?”

“You will be taken to him and he will be placed in your custody. That means you will be held accountable for his actions. Make sure you teach him what he should and should not do,” Ren quietly advised.

Naruto nodded as he stood with Sasuke right beside him. “Thank you,” he said with genuine gratitude.

Ren let a ghost of a smile trail over his lips. “Let’s see if you still say that when you find out what it takes to raise a child.”

The teens stood but then Naruto hesitated. “Why did you never say anything about…” he trailed off.

Ren seemed to know what he wanted to ask. “We all have inner demons to deal with of one type or another. It is in wrestling with these demons that we truly show our humanity.”

Naruto nodded thoughtfully before turning to leave.

The two were let out of the room and into the hall by one of the guards. “Take him down to the boy. It’s his now,” he said shortly to the previous guard that was still waiting for them.

Naruto’s eyes narrowed and Sasuke quickly grabbed the blonde’s shoulder to keep him from doing anything stupid.

They walked silently behind the other guard as he led him down past the first floor to the basement area.

“Spit it out, Sasuke,” Naruto growled under his breath. “You’re starting to look constipated.”

Sasuke shot a glare to his companion before turning his eyes forward again. “What are you going to do with him?”

“Raise him. What else do you do with kids?”

“I meant while we’re gone on this mission and while we’re going after Itachi. You can’t bring a kid along with us! What the hell were you thinking?” Sasuke demanded quietly.

“Like I told Ren, if I have to I can leave him with Hinata or someone until we get back,” Naruto replied. “I just don’t want to leave him here. He deserves better than that. Maybe if I had been raised in a different village where no one knew, I would have had a better childhood.”

‘But I never would have met you,’ Sasuke thought, thankful that the “what might have been” had never occurred.

*********************
Although his name wasn’t really Hiroki, he had come to think of himself as such. He didn’t remember what his real name had been. He had only been “boy” or “child” or “Test Subject Number 32F” while he had been in the laboratory locked in a small cell.

He was locked in a small room now in the basement of what he had thought would be a safe haven. He wasn’t sure why he was in the room, apparently protecting himself had been wrong or maybe it was because he hadn’t seen what the woman was going to do and failed to protect their leader. Perhaps he was a disappointment to them.

Just like he was to his sensei back in his previous home.

His sensei was forever telling him that he wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t strong enough and didn’t move to kill quickly enough. Perhaps he had been right. Had he been faster and less hesitant to kill maybe Hanzaki-sama would have still been alive.

Maybe he really was a failed experiment.

He felt the tingling sensation in his nose, felt the burning sensation in his eyes and knew that he was about to cry. He tried to hold back because crying always angered his sensei. Crying was not for warriors, but for little babies.

He vaguely remembered a time before; before the experiments, before the lab, before he had felt the sensation of knives cutting into him as well as out of him. In before whenever he had felt this way, someone had always made it better. Someone had held him, let him cry and then dried his tears with gentle hands and kisses.

He covered his mouth with his hands so that he wouldn’t sob, forcing himself to breathe through his nose even though the harsh breaths forced snot to dribble out and onto his fingers. He didn’t want to be hurt any more. He didn’t want to hear the hateful words and feel the stinging blows from people who were disappointed in his failure.

It had been his mother. He couldn’t remember her face, but he remembered the way that she had held him. He wanted his mother. He wanted his mother to hold him again and take him away from this place.

But he knew that his mother was gone.

Despair made the tears fall no matter how hard he tried to keep them inside. He wanted his mother to come and carry him away, to make all the bad things go away so that he could smile and laugh again.

He felt the ripples start under his skin.

‘No, no, nonononono!’ he had to make it stop. It hurt when they came out and he was tired of the pain. He wrapped his arms around himself just like his Mommy would have done and started to rock himself. He remembered now, that was how Mommy had made him feel better.

The door opened abruptly and the light came on, flooding the chamber. He curled up instinctively, trying to protect himself from whatever would come.

“There it is,” said a harsh, disdainful voice. “Take it and get it out of here.”

“You fucking son of a-,” growled a familiar voice angrily.

Hiroki looked up just in time to see the blonde headed man throw a punch at one of the men who had kept him locked up. His training told him that the older boy had put his whole body behind the blow and he heard bone cracking under the fist.

The dark-haired teen grabbed his friend’s shoulder, stopping the other from doing more physical harm to the man that was now on the floor. “Enough, Naruto, we don’t want any trouble right now.” The implication was that they would revisit the issue at a later date, however.

That was when the blue eyes fell on Hiroki and the boy half flinched from their intensity. They immediately softened and the lips took on a gentle smile. The older boy approached him and he tried to scoot back further into the unyielding wall.

“It’s okay, Hiroki, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m so sorry for what happened while I was gone,” he said soothingly. “But I’m going to get you out of here if you want to come with me.”

He studied the blonde warily. He had been the one to save Hiroki in the first place, but he had also been the one that had left him in this place. But his eyes were asking for forgiveness and shone with an emotion that Hiroki had not seen in a long time.

The blonde crouched down and opened his arms, waiting patiently for Hiroki to make his own decision. Finally, after a long moment, the boy stood and walked with great trepidation into that tempting embrace.

Arms gently enfolded him and rubbed his back. He expected the boy, ‘Naruto,’ he reminded himself, to immediately start shushing him, not wanting him to start bawling.

“It’s okay, Hiroki,” Naruto repeated. “It’s okay to cry when it really, really hurts.”

Hiroki’s breath hitched on a sob. He couldn’t help it, especially when Naruto started to gently rock him.

“Sometimes you have to cry out the bad tears so that you can make room for the happy ones,” Naruto murmured with a soft smile evident in his voice.

Hiroki clutched onto the front of the black shirt and buried his head into Naruto’s shoulder. Once the tears started, he couldn’t seem to get them to stop so he finally gave up and just let himself weep. Being held by Naruto was just like he remembered being held by his mother.

“Mommy,” he heard himself call out through the tears. He felt the body tense slightly against him and knew that Naruto didn’t understand. He didn’t want someone else. He threw his arms around the boy’s neck and clutched tightly. He wanted to explain, wanted to tell him, but with the body-wracking sobs the only thing he could get out was a cry of “Mommy! D-Don’t leave!”


Naruto smiled sadly as the crying boy continually wiped his face and nose on his shoulder and tightened his arms securely about the small body. He only wished he could go back to that lab and bring everyone back from the dead so that he could kill them slower and more painfully the next time.

He picked the boy up and turned to Sasuke, meeting the concerned and haunted look in the onyx eyes before they were quickly averted.

“Good luck explaining the mission to him, dobe,” Sasuke said in a quiet voice before turning and exiting the room.


TBC