A Dream for a Dream

A Dream for a Dream

chapter 5

I was so caught up in the action playing out before me, that I was taken by surprise when it began to fade quickly, as Ino withdrew the chakra that was powering her jutsu. It felt quite a bit more abrupt than the last time, and it took everyone in the circle a little time to shake themselves back into reality. It was a lot to take in, such an awesome sight. It was was so very rare for a human to get to see two demons battle... and live to tell of it. The elders all looked quite somber. Perhaps they were contemplating the mistakes that they had made in dealing with Naruto that had led to this point. I could relate.

"How could this have happened? How did the Kyuubi even manage to create a new body?" somebody finally whispered in an awed tone.

"I was watching with the byakugan," Neji answered. "It appeared that he simply gathered all the basic components of a living body from the elements of the world around him."

"It's understandable really," Tsunade nodded sagely. "Demons are immortal, and the Fourth never did actually destroy him. As long as his spirit still exists and he can still wield his chakra, there should be nothing that he can't fully recover from." A moment later, the outburst I had been expecting began.

"What 'was' that thing?! We need to know exactly where you were when this happened."

"That's right! We must consider the possible repercussions on the village of..."

"We should calm down," said Tsunade firmly, heading everyone off before things could get out of hand.

"The Kyuubi honestly didn't seem the least bit concerned with the village," Neji mentioned. "I don't believe he has any intentions of ever returning to this place. All he wanted was Naruto." I growled before I could stop myself, and at the time, I didn't even care. The Hyuuga shifted his penetrating gaze to me just for a second. I scowled back and he looked away disdainfully.

"But what about that other one?" Someone was saying.

"Kyuubi called it a Sky Phantom. A type of wind demon..."

"It's impossible to get a hold of! Only something like Kyuubi, that's capable of those massive chakra attacks can hurt it! How are we going to defend the village against that?"

"Perhaps if we could find a way to trap it. Or create a shield of some sort."

"I don't imagine that it is any more of a threat now than it ever was before we knew of it's existence," Neji put in rationally.

"Never mind that," one elderly woman rebuked bitterly. "The fact of the matter is that the Kyuubi has been unleashed and we have no real guarantee that it won't decide to take revenge on the village that imprisoned it."

"And now Naruto himself is a demon as well," another agreed. "He could wreak his own vengeance."

"Kyuubi alone has nearly destroyed the entire village once. We would be fools to be caught unprepared."

"It may be best to take control of the situation by launching a preemptive strike."

"Haven't any of you been paying attention?" I snapped. "Naruto would never harm this village! Every one of you acknowledges that he has good reason to feel vengeful. Yet you sit here and continue to worry about yourselves, looking for 'more' trouble. Do you not feel an ounce of remorse for what he's had to endure when not one of you was willing to help him?!"

"Uchiha..." Tsunade started, but I cut her off.

"Never mind. I'm finished," I said, scowling about the room before I headed for the window I came in from.

"Neji, where is Naruto now?" she continued, turning away from me.

"We have no idea. Kyuubi took him away somewhere."

"Yeah, he didn't exactly give us a mailing address y'know," I heard Kiba snark sarcastically, followed by a pained grunt, presumably from Ino elbowing him again.

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Once outside, I jumped to the awning over the building's main entrance and sat there to brood, er... wait. I wasn't nearly satisfied with the information that I'd accumulated, but at this point, I knew exactly what direction the discussion was going to take, and it wasn't anything I was interested in. The council had been thrown for a loop and was going to go on a rant about possible dangers and what defensive measures needed to be taken. They were too caught up in trying to cover their wrinkled asses to pay attention to anything else. Naruto's situation had already taken a back seat.

I couldn't give a flying fuck about them and their worries and regrets. I had my own to dwell on, and all I wanted to hear about was Naruto. I wanted to know every last little thing about what had happened to my dobe. This was possibly the most catastrophic turn of events that could ever have happened. How could he not be coming back?! It just wasn't 'possible' that I wouldn't get the chance to apologize.

I messed up, horribly. I know that. But it couldn't just 'end' that way! I'd done stupid things before, but it always worked out. He always forgave me. He couldn't just be gone! That wasn't how it worked. I LOVED him damn it!!... Shit, I really loved him... But he didn't know that, did he?

I had no idea how long I'd been sitting there above the door, trying to wrap my brain around all this potent information. Each fact that had been thrown at me had landed like a solid brick. Now I felt like I had to dig and heave and fight my way to the surface. Who would have ever guessed that Naruto's total obliviousness to my feelings was just because his own sexuality hadn't even been awakened yet?

It was killing me to realize that he could have probably returned my feelings, if I'd just been more patient... or if I'd been willing to give it a chance at all. I had deliberately not considered him as a real potential partner, no matter how much I wanted him. Partly because I refused to allow myself to be rejected. It was horrible to see how much my own 'preemptive' rejection had hurt him. I dumped that pain onto him, to avoid feeling it myself. He was too right all those times he called me a bastard.

I needn't have worried about rejection, if I could have just pulled my head out of my ass and told him how I felt. But then there was also the fact that I knew that he would complicate my future goals and compromise my social standing. Pride was the true bottom line. I could have found solutions to the problem of repopulating my clan. I'm sure the village would have been entirely accommodating. After all, they wanted the Uchiha clan revived as much as I did. Truthfully, I could think of a couple of different courses of action, right off the top of my head. I think I had just refused to admit that, because my need for a wife to procreate was a good cover for the 'real' reason I would never be with him.

I honestly hated the idea of having to deal with the constant derision that would surely come of being romantically involved with the most hated person in Konoha. There it is... I know what you're thinking right now, and I deserve every bit of your contempt. Poor Naruto had to deal with everyone's hateful attitudes every day of his life. He was my best friend and I owed him my life many times over. But even though I needed him, wanted him and took all that he had to give me, I refused to share in his problems. I wouldn't lower myself to help him carry his burden. My own selfishness had already sabotaged me on numerous occasions, but apparently I hadn't been quite enough of a 'genius' to make the connection until then.

I sneered nastily to myself, thinking of how now, only 'now' when he was gone, did I come to decide that I couldn't live without him. How moronically cliche! The thing was, that even though I was planning on making a life with someone else, I'd never once pictured that life without him in it, in some capacity. I had foolishly assumed that I could never lose him. He was Naruto! He couldn't 'be' lost, even if I'd wanted to get rid of him! I don't know why it never even occurred to me that he might find someone else to settled down with. I stupidly failed to think about how it would make me feel if, and when that happened.

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Finally, I caught sight of the team leaving the building. They walked out right under me and stood together in the middle of the street, talking about something for several minutes. Then they split off and went in different directions, Neji wandering off without a glance back, while Ino and Kiba waved goodbye to each other. They were probably heading home to get some rest. Come to think of it now, they all looked pretty tired. Not that I cared back then. All I was interested in was getting the rest of the story, and I knew they had more information.

Making an instant decision, I silently trailed after Ino with a single-minded determination. I watched impatiently as she stopped to say hello to a few people along the way that she obviously hadn't seen in months. When she began to pass by a deserted park, I decided that I'd waited long enough and this was as good a place as any. I jumped down and cornered her. She seemed slightly startled but then just gave me a 'look' when she saw my face. She wasn't too surprised to see me.

"What do you want Sasuke?" she asked, though I'm sure she knew the answer. My response was straightforward. I wasn't about to go beating around the same damn bush again.

"I want to know the rest. Tell me what happened to Naruto. Or better yet, show me." She looked at me warily.

"Show you what?" The evasion was too obvious.

"The rest, damn it," I growled. "The council may have gotten side-tracked. When it comes down to it, they don't really give a shit about where Naruto ends up anyway. But don't think for a second that I didn't notice. You cut that memory short, on purpose. You didn't let it run it's full course and fade out like before. Now I want to know what the fuck happened! "

"You're not my superior, Uchiha Sasuke! And it's none of your business!"

"You're damn right it my business. My best friend is supposedly never coming home. I need to know everything. Now show me the end!" I quickly grabbed her hands, and held on hard enough to make her wince, wishing that I could make the connection myself. She tugged at her hands but I wasn't letting go.

"You don't even know the meaning of the word 'friend'. I don't have to show you anything else. Naruto deserves his privacy."

"I need to know exactly what that fucking fox did to him! If you don't just show me, I'll search out whatever you're hiding by any means necessary. Even if I have to track them down myself." I glared hard at her for a long moment and she simply glared right back. Finally I sighed and loosened my hold on her slightly. "Damn it Ino... Please." My jaw tightened and I held my head high, refusing to acknowledge that I'd essentially just begged her.

"You're either a sadist looking for another way to hurt him, or you're a masochist looking to hurt yourself. Either way I really shouldn't show you anything," she sighed in return. I held her gaze steadily until she finally nodded. "You're probably going to wish you'd never asked me."

With that warning, I was whirled back into her memories. As the connection was made I found myself reviewing the tail end of Kyuubi's fight with the wind demon. The sight was no less awe inspiring the second time around, but I was impatient to get it over-with and see what came next. This time, when the defeated wind demon, disappeared the focus was returned to Kyuubi.

The giant fox, snorted, tossing his head indignantly before shrinking slowly back down below tree level and then shape-shifting back into human form, leaving only those fluffy tails waving behind him again. He wasted no time directing his attention back to Naruto. With barely a glance back at the rest of the team, he glided back over to the boy that still huddled at the base of the large tree. Naruto let out a piteous whine that I'm sure would have tugged at both the heart-strings and the loins of anyone with a pulse.

"Naruto," the demon called. He seemed to be restraining himself from reaching out to touch him.

"I... God I 'need'..." The quiet plea drifted off as Naruto obviously wasn't quite sure where he was going with it. Kyuubi was murmuring something to him. It met my ear as a low, steady hum of indefinable sound. Frustrated, I tried to make out the words. Then Naruto was responding. "You fought... for me?" Kyuubi answered something in the affirmative.

Once again I caught myself wishing I was really there. I wanted to shout out that 'I' had fought for him plenty of times. We had fought for each other. We had fought together and we 'belonged' together. Such thinking was useless though. Besides I definitely hadn't given him the impression that we belonged together the last time I saw him. I hadn't fought for him. Not the way Kyuubi just had, the way I 'should' have, for the honour and the privilege of his company. He was the one who had fought for me.

There were a few more endless moments while Kyuubi continued to speak to him like he was weaving some kind of hypnotic spell. I mentally growled when I saw his hands finally come up to rest on Naruto's shoulders, grasping them a little tighter, then massaging slowly. I wanted so badly to know what he was saying, though now I wonder what for. So I could refute every word of it when I chased them down? I've had plenty of time to think it over since then. It was already too late, even then as I was desperately trying to swallow the magnitude of what had occurred. Even as I tormented myself with this very vision. There was no way to take it all back. Naruto had already made his choice and if demons mate for life, then there was already nothing that could be done.

One of those clawed hands was now sifting gently through Naruto's hair. That beautiful, soft hair that I had longed to touch myself so many times. It hurt. It felt like a real physical pain, to helplessly watch someone else touch what I had always secretly thought of as mine. I just continued to wait through it though, forcing myself to watch him do the things that I'd been too cowardly and, ironically, too 'proud' to do myself.

I caught the faint sound of Naruto's broken voice whispering something. He was looking up at Kyuubi now and he seemed the barest inch away from delirium. Whatever the demon's answer was, it brought tears to his purplish-blue eyes, that began to stream unchecked, and possibly unnoticed down his cheeks. Then he slowly raised himself up and put his arms around the demon and I knew all hope was lost.

I stared, numbly as their bodies pressed together, Kyuubi's arms lifting to hold Naruto tight. Naruto buried his face in Kyuubi's neck and the demon began to pat his back. It was almost morbidly fascinating to see the way that small, comforting motion grew into long strokes that eventually spread over his entire back and even began to slide up and down his sides as well, turning into a full exploration of his exposed torso. Naruto arched easily into each stroke like a cat, apparently loving every second of it. The flush seemed to be receding slightly, though it may well have been taking what was left of his mind with it.

The first kiss was like a stab straight to my heart. The way Naruto fell into it and even begged for more when they pulled apart for a moment of breath, was a harsh twist of the knife. Kyuubi oh so obligingly kissed him again and a part of me wanted to gouge out my own eyes while another part couldn't help but continue to look. Perhaps just for the confirmation or maybe to punish myself. I'm still not really sure.

Kyuubi was kissing along Naruto's neck, then slowly licking the elegant lines of his collarbones as he lowered him to the mossy forest floor. The noises Naruto was making, most definitely indicated his approval, and he limply allowed himself to be maneuvered into position. Both of them were starting to glow with chakra. I didn't really understand what was going on as the purple and red chakra began to charge the air, swirling together around them. Soon the two forms were becoming difficult to see. If I'd had the use of my sharingan I might have been about to see clearly but in retrospect, it's probably a good thing that I didn't.

Ino was asking what was going on, and Neji was speculating that this was likely a natural component of the demon mating process, possibly meant to warn off other demons or maybe having to do with that imprinting thing that Naruto had mentioned before. I wasn't really paying attention to his litany of reasonable explanations. My attention was entirely taken with what was going on inside that chakra shield. I could make out what I was sure was Kyuubi, removing Naruto's pants, and the realization that this was about to happen, or had in fact, already happened, was tearing through me, mangling my higher brain functions.

I was starting to really, 'really' want to stop watching now, but Ino hadn't stopped watching. (Bitch was probably loving it, and wishing she could see better.)

"Uh, guys," Kiba said, sounding extremely uncomfortable. Ino finally turned away to look at him. "Maybe we should, um... go... somewhere? I mean, this is kinda private isn't it? I don't think we should just stand around watching."

"We can't really leave without talking to Naruto," Neji stated simply.

"It's not like we can really see much of anything anyway Kiba," Ino put in. I spared a moment's thought to scoff at this. She was the one who'd refused to show me what happened based on the 'it's private' argument.

Her line of vision turned back to the nearly opaque barrier of demon chakra. There was a shadow of the two lost in the cloud, really only recognizable by the rhythmic motion. Then suddenly they must have changed their angle, or their proximity to the edge of the foggy swirling chakra, and I got a hazy glimpse of Naruto's face contorted in passion as he leaned back on the chest behind him. Kyuubi's mouth was attached to his neck, one strong arm wrapped around his upper body from behind, with Naruto's hands clinging to that muscled forearm for support.

I saw no more. Somehow, I managed, with all my willpower, to rip myself away from Ino in that moment, cutting off the connection all at once. The stinging backlash of the abruptly severed tie was nothing compared to the way my mind and heart screamed at what I'd just witnessed. That single image would be burned into my skull for the rest of my days. What was a pounding headache compared to 'that'?

"Owww!!! God DAMNit!! Fuck, Sasuke! What the hell?!" Ino apparently didn't share my view on the insignificance of the headache. "You can't just cut me off like that you asshole!! Oww Fuck that hurts!" I just couldn't feel sorry for her. Not enough to feel guilty about causing her head to feel like it was going to explode,.. because I felt the same way and I almost welcomed the distraction of it.

"I hope you're fucking happy Uchiha! You 'knew' what you were going to see damnit! I told you that you wouldn't like it you fucking masochist!" Ino turned and flounced off indignantly, massaging her temples and hissing curses at me. I'm beginning to think she was right about me being a masochist. I don't know that I've ever done anything in my life that didn't just bring me more pain.




(A/N; Hahahahahah! Suck on that Sasuke!! Man, he's so easy to torture. I guess I'm the sadist here. Next chapter is Naruto's pov again. Hope you guys are happy! Oh and I hope that clears up your question animelover. Later!)