The Sound of Dreams

AN: Well, here is the much awaited for fight scene. I only hope and pray I didn’t butcher poor Itachi too much! I truly hope you everyone enjoys and don’t start looking for the lynching rope when you are done!!

Thanks ever so much for the reviews! They truly inspire me and make me want to do my best! The writing is going slowly now due to the fact that I am being paranoid about every word I write and how it affects the story.

/hugs to everyone, thanks for reading!!!


Chapter 52

It wasn’t long before they found their quarry. They were in a sparsely wooded area bordered on one side by a large stream. There was enough cover for them to make things difficult for their enemies but not so much that it would allow someone to sneak up on them.

Katsuro, or “Kat” as Naruto now realized, was gagged and bound to the base of a tree. Itachi and Kisame were both standing as if waiting for their arrival even though the Leaf-nins had masked their chakra.

If Itachi was surprised to see his brother along with the Kyuubi vessel in front of him, he gave no indication in his demeanor. Kisame had no such qualms about showing both his surprise and delight. He grinned, showing his sharp, triangular teeth.

“It looks like fate is being kind to us, Itachi. Look what has fallen right into our laps.”

However both Uchihas were ignoring him, already locked in their own world. Eyes were evaluating, judging, and gauging each other. Itachi didn’t even bother activating the Mangekyou, knowing that his brother wouldn’t succumb to it this time.

After a long considering look, Itachi calmly reached behind him and drew his own weapon, the same one that had slain his family. The one that would now either finish the job or bear witness to his judgment being rendered.

Everything seemed to fall silent in the spring afternoon. The birds, the insects and even the breeze seemed to still, sensing the building tension. One moment the last two Uchihas were standing there, the next they were gone with not even a blur of movement giving evidence to their attack. Exactly midway between where the two had stood, they suddenly appeared again, blade meeting blade in a resounding ring that seemed to radiate out from them like a shockwave.

There was another moment when they looked into each others’ eyes from mere centimeters away.

Then the dance began.

There was no other way to describe the two as they fought. They moved together, perfectly in sync, flowing from one attack to another like water in a river where the current was powerful, deep and swift only contained by the banks that was their skin.

They moved with a beauty and grace that left Naruto breathless while simultaneously envious. He knew he would never be able to match those almost ethereal movements and could only despair of ever being truly a challenge to his lover. The only time that he and Sasuke moved together with such precision and intimacy was in their most private and passionate embraces. An irrational possessiveness swept over him. He felt threatened by the intensity and focus that the two brothers bestowed upon each other.

A hand on his shoulder brought him back to himself and he saw the fight for what it really was: a battle. A fierce battle between two dangerous opponents that would likely end with one of them dead.

“We have our own part in this to fulfill,” Shino murmured as he pulled his hand away.

“There’s no Sannin here to protect you this time, jinchuuriki,” Kisame said gleefully, pulling his large sword, Samehada, from his back. “I think this time I will remove a few limbs. I’m tired of chasing you down.”

Naruto quickly formed a dozen clones. He knew they were pointless against the chakra absorbing sword that Kisame wielded, but he had to distract the ex-Mist-nin from Shino for a few moments.

Kisame laughed at him as the clones moved in to attack. “You don’t seem to remember who you’re dealing with, brat,” the blue-skinned man stated as he shook loose the wrappings covering his sword.

He quickly struck through the copies of Naruto, his sword merely having to brush past one for the chakra to be sucked into the large freakish weapon. Naruto could almost swear that he saw the numerous overlapping metal scales that made up the blade quivering happily each time it absorbed a clone.

Was the damn thing alive?

From the corner of his eye he could see that Sasuke and Itachi had paused briefly, once again evaluating each other in that eerily silent way that Naruto could never understand. But then Naruto didn’t have the Sharingan and couldn’t see what they did.

He did notice, however, that Sasuke’s upper left arm was bleeding from a thin slice on his shoulder, giving first blood to Itachi.

At that point several bugs flew toward Kisame, hovering around his face and obscuring his vision. That was Naruto’s cue. The blonde moved in using taijutsu, concentrating on trying to disarm the nuke-nin. While Naruto was an excellent ninja, he was not Gai or Lee and it wasn’t long before the sword caught him in the stomach, the razor sharp scales tearing and ripping through both Anbu armor as well as the cloth beneath.

He jumped back to take quick stock of himself. He had sustained a few lacerations, but had been spared the worst of it by the armored vest.

Kisame stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground and started making several quick hand seals. Naruto tensed, waiting for the jutsu to reveal itself so that he could either devise a counter or avoid it. He noticed Shino’s bugs converging on the shinobi, intent on eating the chakra being used. Kisame narrowed his eyes as he finished the last seal.

A water dragon rose up out of the stream, not nearly as large or impressive due to the reduced chakra used in forming it. The serpent uncoiled and Naruto began to pull his own chakra into his palm. A Rasengan should act like a blender and disrupt the jutsu.

The watery creation did not attack him however, but struck out at Shino. The power of the chakra infused rushing water was enough to cause the insects forming the clone to disperse, drowning and killing several in the process.

Kisame scowled and looked over toward his captive. The tree was bare except for the discarded ropes. He growled angrily, but then stopped himself with a mental shrug. They had what they had come for and more.

The shark-like man turned his attention back to his opponent who was rushing him with a glowing ball of pure energy cupped in his palm. He directed the water dragon toward the jinchuuriki, watching as the blonde redirected his attack, jumping up to meet the creature. At the last moment, Kisame leapt up as well and brushed his sword against the boy, absorbing the jutsu within his grasp. The water dragon immediately struck, the force plunging the teen back to the ground as watery teeth pierced his body.

The flowing water continued to pummel Naruto as the body followed through with the attack. The dragon reformed, rearing above the shinobi.

Naruto staggered to his feet, his whole body aching, blood seeping from the punctures in his stomach and legs caused by the dragon’s teeth. He had to get a Rasengan off to destroy the damn water jutsu.

However, every time that Naruto tried to call on his power, Kisame was there shaving off his chakra one bit at a time. If Naruto tried to concentrate on Kisame, then the damn dragon was there.


“It seems as if Naruto-kun is having some difficulties,” Itachi said calmly, trying not to show how quickly his breath rushed in and out of his lungs. His brother had gotten better. He felt the dim pain of a wound on his hip. Much better.

“He is safe enough. I know that you have to have him alive,” Sasuke replied. His expression was as impassive as always, but his eyes were desperately searching for some weakness, some lapse in Itachi’s defense.

Itachi shook his head in mock regret. “You had been doing so well under Orochimaru, Otouto. You were almost there. Your hate was honing itself, but then I lost track of you. Now I see why. Is the bond you share with him worth your life, Otouto? Because that will be the price you pay here today. I am tired of being continually disappointed in you. This will be your last lesson.”

Before Sasuke could rejoin with his own scathing remark, his brother was attacking in a blur of motion.


Naruto was once again on his back, coughing up water and feeling like a drowned rat. He heard the sadistic chuckling of his opponent and felt something snap.

These were the mother fuckers who had killed Gaara.

These were the assholes who had killed other jinchuuriki; those hapless victims of man’s desperation and ambition.

These were the sons of bitches who were collecting the demons for whatever half-baked world domination plan they had. One that would likely not succeed but would cause a lot of pain, suffering and death in its floundering attempts.

Now they were trying to capture him as well to take the demon that the Yondaime had sealed within him, the responsibility with which the man had both burdened him and entrusted to him.

Naruto felt a sharp jab in his stomach, directly over the seal. He looked up to see Kisame standing above him, a smug look on his twisted face. Naruto’s eyes went red and he felt the Kyuubi’s chakra boil upwards to the surface. Samehada drank it up eagerly, preventing the full aura from forming, siphoning the power off as quickly as it formed.

“You want my chakra,” Naruto snarled. “Then take it!” He released any constraint that he had on the Nine-Tails’ power, letting it flood his body, filling it with pain and agony and fire.


The surge of chakra brought the two combatants to a complete halt. They both turned their eyes to where the Kyuubi vessel lay on the ground, pumping his power into the sword.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed worriedly. The dobe was emitting more power than he had when he was at four tails. A scream tore itself from the prone shinobi’s throat and Sasuke immediately took a step forward, intent on stopping what was happening.

A sword blade blocked his way.

“You will wait and see what happens or I will kill you the moment your back is turned,” his brother stated, a note almost like curiosity creeping into his tone.

Sasuke had no doubt that if he dropped his guard even for a moment that his brother would be able to carry through his threat.


The agonized cries of pain continued as the power rushed through Naruto like a torrent. At some point he had locked his hands upon the blade, the scales digging and cutting into his palms, a small discomfort in comparison to the lethal chakra channeling through his body.

The weapon began to shiver, rattling metallically. The blade then began to literally twist and warp, almost as if it were writhing in distress within his grasp.

Something at the last moment made him pull back his leg and kick the Mist-nin hard enough to stagger the man backwards. Following his instincts, Naruto wrapped himself in a cocoon of red chakra as the sword exploded.


The Sharingan enabled both Uchihas to see the destruction of Samehada as well as realize that there was no way to avoid all of the metal shrapnel propelled by the burst of pure raw power. They both moved to protect vital areas as shards sliced into their bodies just before the chakra laced concussion bowled them over, bringing darkness.

***************
Orochimaru watched as the demon began cursing fluently. The creature had half reformed outside of the cage door as chakra began streaming off of it in a tidal wave of power. It almost literally flooded the walls, washing up against the stone walls on its rush outwards.

“Fuck!” the demon roared as a last surge of power poured from it before it was once again manifested within the cell. The ancient, powerful being staggered and almost collapsed as it lay down.

Even as it closed its eyes, the power continued to roil off of the fox and surge through the seal. Something momentous had obviously taken place.

Smiling his most sinister grin, Orochimaru wrapped his dead arms in the Kyuubi’s power and climbed to the seal. This time he didn’t have to force himself through. This time he was practically sucked through with the current of chakra. It was painful. He felt as if he were compressed and shoved through a knothole in a plank, but he found himself on the other side of the cage doors.

He wanted to laugh, long and loud, but he didn’t want to risk waking the demon.

“Rest,” he whispered instead to the slumbering form. “Because when you next wake, you will be under my control.”

A shimmer appeared on the floor behind him out in the middle of the room. It was Naruto, unconscious and looking battered and torn even in his mental representation. He quickly picked up the boy, fighting against the flow of chakra racing through the room. Hoisting the comatose figure up to the bars of the prison, Orochimaru carefully positioned the blonde until the seal on his stomach overlapped the seal upon the barred doors.

He had been planning for this moment for months. He moved quickly and efficiently, wanting the boy sealed before he awoke. He wished he could just absorb the boy’s consciousness like he had on his other body transfers, but there was something inherently resistant in the young shinobi as if his will to live was too strong even in his current state.

He quickly formed seals, using only his own chakra. He didn’t want any chance of either Naruto or the Kyuubi being able to manipulate their own chakra if it was used in the seals. He mounted the teen upon the bars using seven seals. Throat, chest, waist, wrists and ankles were all secured with chakra infused bonds.

He needed to move quickly now. The full sealing that he wanted done wasn’t complete, he needed one more thing for it to be to his satisfaction.

He followed the chakra stream out of the prison maze and slowly surfaced to consciousness.

Oh, gods, he fucking hurt.

His vessel’s body felt as if he had been through a meat grinder. He blinked his eyes open carefully to take stock of his surroundings.

He was outside although everything was silent around him as if all of the animals had fled the area. He looked down to see most of his armor and clothing shredded. He was wounded pretty badly with pieces of metal imbedded in his body.

He had fared far better than the lumps of pulped flesh lying not far away. He saw a scrap of red and black cloth and some of the chunks of meat which seemed to have blue skin attached to it.

He slowly stood, noticing the broken and twisted trees and branches radiating outward away from him as if he had been at the epicenter of whatever catastrophe that had befallen them. He saw two other figures on the ground not too far away and limped over slowly to investigate.

He felt a wide grin crawling over his features as he took in the forms of both Uchihas. He briefly thought about taking Itachi but quickly decided against it. One, his eyes were now flawed with the man slowly going blind, two, he was dangerous and Orochimaru wasn’t sure when he would reawaken and lastly, it was just so much more fun to torture Sasuke since the boy still possessed some vestiges of emotion. Besides, Orochimaru owed him for his betrayal.

He picked up the younger male’s katana (the one that Orochimaru had given him in fact) and made a move toward Itachi. It was best to tie up lose ends while they were lying vulnerable and defenseless before you.

The older Uchiha stirred and his eyes fluttered open. Orochimaru quickly averted his gaze, but not before Itachi had seen the snake-slit yellow eyes.

“Orochimaru,” the dark-eyed man stated in a strained tone. His eyes flickered to red before fading back to black.

The Sannin hastily weighed his options before moving over to Sasuke’s unmoving form. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” he sneered while shoving the katana in its sheath.

Itachi let out a soft breath, like a huff of a laugh if the man had ever actually laughed. “Crawling back to your hole?” he queried softly. “Leader wants to have a few words with you.”

“I have no words for him,” Orochimaru replied as he lifted the other man’s brother.

“You are using the jinchuuriki as a vessel for your pathetic soul,” Itachi said quietly. “He will not let you slither off this time.”

“He has more ambition than brains,” Orochimaru stated succinctly. “I have nothing to fear from him.” The Sannin turned and, after a few hand seals, disappeared.

Itachi frowned slightly as he looked over at what was left of his partner. Kisame had been a good warrior and it had taken a demon to kill him. There was no shame in his death.

However, Itachi did not look forward to explaining that to their leader. Nor that once again the Nine-Tails had slipped through their hands.

He sighed and forced himself upright. He would need to bind his wounds as quickly as possible and retrieve Kisame’s ring from the bloody pile of meat and bones. He wanted to be gone when the third member of his brother’s group returned.

**************
Shino surveyed the scene through dark tinted sunglasses. He said nothing, made no sounds of despair, but the tension in his body screamed out his concern.

The only thing he could discern was that Kisame was dead and the other three were missing. The insects that he had placed upon Sasuke and Naruto had been slain in what had obviously been some kind of blast; therefore he had no means of tracking either one down. He needed his teammates.

He turned and quickly went back to where he had hidden Katsuro. He would return the young man to his father and then gather Team Eight to sweep the area for clues.

TBC