The Sound of Dreams

AN: Well, obviously we have departed from cannon for the most part now. I hope you guys like how the story is evolving.

As for the good doctor, just remember that even if he wants to help Sasuke, he has to find a way to do so that won’t be readily found out AND won’t endanger the life of his son through his actions. So, he has to wait for the right chance.

I will probably be continuing “Blackmail and Betrayal” but I don’t have a firm update schedule in mind yet. I would like to say on Saturdays, but I will have to see how kind SoD is going to be to me this week on chapters.

Thanks for reading and especially reviewing! It lets me know if I am doing something right or not! Much love all around!


Chapter 56


The blindfold was removed several hours after they had finally reached their destination. Ren hadn’t enjoyed the three day trek through the woods bound and gagged like some kind of fugitive. After all, he had been bound more securely by the threat to his village than by any length of rope.

He blinked his eyes, letting them adjust to the dim light before trying to look around him. He had been lashed to a chair with his arms behind his back and his shoulders ached with the strain. He felt the sharp, cold edge of a blade slide underneath the gag in his mouth along his cheek. He froze all of his movements as the blade twisted slightly, parting the cloth cleanly and easily. The kunai lingered for a moment against his skin before pulling away.

Ren looked up, meeting the snake-like eyes of Orochimaru set within Uzumaki’s face.

“I see you found a way out,” he stated calmly. He watched as Orochimaru seemed to struggle against some impulse for a moment before his eyes cleared once again.

Orochimaru couldn’t kill Fuuma yet, even if the man had seen his captivity. He had a use for him still. He allowed a smirk to twist his lips however. There would be plenty of time afterwards.

“You are going to do what I say or I am going to punish your clan and village for your insubordination,” the Sannin stated with relish, licking a pink tongue over lips that were not his own.

“I will do nothing you say as long as you continue threatening my people,” Ren stated quietly.

“Your people?” Orochimaru asked with a laugh. “You mean your pathetic attempts at ruling my ninja village.”

The Sannin made a gesture and a man that Ren had not seen in the shadows exited the room.

“I will only state this one more time, Fuuma Ren. You will do as I say or one family will die each night until you do. Do you honestly believe your group of genin level ninjas will be able to stop my men?”

“We fought off your men before,” Ren stated confidently. “We will do it again.”

“No,” Orochimaru contradicted. “You fought off an obvious attack on your precious village. Next time you will not see them coming. You will not hear them and you will not detect them until it is too late.”

The door opened again and the same man entered, dragging a struggling young girl with him. Ren recognized her. She was the same child that had recently cheated death in the form of a runaway horse drawn cart. The girl that Uzumaki had saved while shopping in their village. It seemed as if the fates were not done with her.

“What will your answer be?” the snake Sannin asked with a slight tinge of amusement.

Ren firmed his lips, quickly weighing his options. Apparently, he hadn’t been quick enough.

Orochimaru casually reached over with the hand that held the kunai and flicked his wrist. A thin red line appeared on the girl’s throat which then parted as blood began to pour out. The girl let out a cry and clutched the wound, blood oozing quickly from between her fingers. She looked at the face of her previous savior; pain, confusion and betrayal etched onto her features.

Ren’s eyes widened, knowing he shouldn’t be surprised but somehow he was just the same.

“Shall we take her to the good doctor or let her die like so much cattle?” the blonde asked curiously.

Ren gritted his teeth. “What is it you want done?”

Orochimaru smiled widely, inordinately pleased by the question. “A very simple thing really. I want you to bind two beings together in every way imaginable. I want them bound so tightly that they are practically one entity. Mind, body, soul, and chakra. Everything.”

Ren’s breath hitched slightly. What he was asking for just wasn’t done. Ethical ramifications aside, it would be a complex undertaking that, if it succeeded, would likely drive the two individuals insane at best. He looked over at the slowly dying child and reluctantly nodded.

“But I want your word that if I do this that you will leave Rice Field alone,” Ren demanded in shaky determination.

Orochimaru barely restrained himself from snorting in amusement at the audacity of the man. There was no way in hell that he would give up the treasure trove that was Rice Field. A willing daimyo (who, with a few well-placed threats, would once again become amiable), unlimited funding and an almost unlimited source of men to do his bidding. No, he would not give up Rice Field.

“Of course,” he almost purred. “If you do this for me, I will be willing to sacrifice my interests in Rice Field. I have many other lairs in different countries after all.”

Ren hesitated, but nodded again.

Orochimaru smiled and glanced at the man holding the now-limp child. “Take her to the doctor immediately.”

The man gave a short nod, picked the girl up and hastily carried her out.

“Where are these two individuals that you want bound?” Ren asked after staring at the blood soaked floor, hoping what he was about to do wouldn’t cause more of the same pools.

That creepy smile slowly made its way across Naruto’s face once again, pulling the whisker marks out of shape and flashing sharp canines. “Follow me,” he said, standing up.

He hesitated when Ren didn’t comply. He then gave a snicker and walked over to the chair. That kunai flashed again and the ropes securing the elder man to the chair fell limply around his feet.

Ren’s muscles screamed in protest as the blood started circulating back through his limbs. He half staggered to his feet, stretching his arms gingerly. The Sannin spun on his heel and strode to the door, leaving Ren no choice but to follow.

Orochimaru led the other shinobi through the dim corridors, his pace swift and sure. Ren couldn’t help but eye his surroundings distastefully. He remembered having visited the lair that had been near his village when the snake summoner had first showed his pasty face to his clansmen. He couldn’t help but feel the same thick oppressiveness again, as if the evil essence of its master had somehow sunk into the very stone around them.

He much preferred his gardens.

They entered what was obviously an infirmary with two current inhabitants. One was the girl which was being attended to with efficient competence by a dark-haired doctor. The doctor in question appeared to be having some difficulty in containing his anger at the girl’s injuries.

The other occupant was none other than Uchiha Sasuke. The strong, confident aura of the young man was absent as his unconscious form lay stretched out on the bed. It drew attention to just how young the teen really was.

“You want me to bind someone to him?” Ren asked in a low tone, not really wishing to perform the task.

“Oh, no,” Orochimaru replied with a grin. “I want you to use his eyes like you did before and place yourself before the demon’s cage. Your work will be done in there.”

“He has to be conscious. He has to be able to see,” Ren protested.

Orochimaru’s grin turned into a sneer. “Come now, Fuuma, you should know that I am somewhat familiar with your techniques. You can thank Fuuma Arashi for that. You’ve been connected to him before. I know you don’t need him to be awake this time. Not for one of your clan as knowledgeable as you.”

Ren’s lips thinned as he thought about arguing further.

Orochimaru leaned into his personal space, his nose inches from the taller man’s chin. “Do not fuck with me,” he growled.

The tension didn’t leave the older man’s shoulders, but he nodded his reluctant acquiescence.

Orochimaru moved a chair between Sasuke’s bed and an empty one next to it. “Fetch Kyoshiro,” he told one of his flunkies. “It’s time.”

He lay down on the bed on his side, facing the Uchiha. He gestured to the chair rather mockingly, smirking as Ren sat down. His plans were coming together rather nicely.

Kyoshiro entered the room and bowed to his leader.

“Repeat your orders,” Orochimaru commanded.

“If Uzumaki regains consciousness, or if I deem you to be in any peril by my own judgment, we are to kill Fuuma Ren, kill the child and raze the village to the ground, leaving no survivors,” Kyoshiro recited obediently.

Ren frowned and discarded the plan that had been forming in his mind.

Orochimaru searched his captive’s face with knowing yellow eyes before speaking once more. “Proceed.”

Ren turned to the pale teen and made the necessary seals and gestures to reconnect his eyes to those cursed orbs that saw more than man was meant to see.

Once done, he carefully turned the boy until he was facing Orochimaru on the other bed. Using the connection, he forced Sasuke to open his eyes.

“He still has to be using his bloodline limit for me to do so as well,” Ren stated.

“Leave that to me,” Orochimaru replied. He narrowed his eyes at Sasuke as his dark purple chakra flared slightly around him. The black flames flowed outward from the Heaven’s Seal mark on the pale neck and began to spread over the limp body. There was a slight hitch in the dark teen’s breath as his unconscious mind fought against the forces moving within him and his eyes spun into ruby pools.

Ren turned to the blonde occupying the other bed, everything seeming to move around him in slow, predestined patterns. Their eyes met and he saw the evidence of more than one soul within. He projected himself within and found himself standing in a prison whose aura made the snake’s lair seem filled with sunshine and rainbows.

His metaphysical breath caught at the sight of Uzumaki practically crucified upon the cage bars, head hanging down and unaware. Even the demon was quiet, laid out on the floor in a recuperative slumber.

“What is it you want done?” he asked, dreading the answer.

“There already exists a bond between the two,” the snake, now in his own form, said from beside him. “You are merely going to enhance it, complete it.”

“Explain,” he demanded, tired of the Sannin’s games. A hand quickly threaded itself into his hair and jerked his head back in retaliation to his tone.

“Pulling chakra directly from the Kyuubi is painful,” Orochimaru explained calmly while maintaining his grip. “Therefore, we are going to funnel it through the boy first. The boy’s body isn’t able to handle the vast amounts of chakra and the strain is slowly shortening his life span. Since chakra is made of both physical and spiritual energy, we are going to shuttle some of that strain to his spiritual being, especially since he is no longer needed to control the body. I will then be able to pull the demon’s chakra from him rather than the creature itself.”

“The results won’t be as strong as if you pulled it directly,” Ren pointed out.

Orochimaru remembered the pain from accessing the demon’s powers and shuddered. “That is why you are going to bind their chakra systems together, circumventing the restriction upon the flow that the seal imposes. That way I can pull more to make up for the indirectness of the power.”

Ren could only feel a certain amount of fear and despair at the thought of that much power at the Sannin’s fingertips.

“If I do this, to the fullest extent of my abilities,” he added to entice Orochimaru further, “you will agree to leave Sound alone?”

Orochimaru nodded. “I will.”

Ren reluctantly nodded, realizing that if he wanted to keep his people safe that he had no choice. Of course, he wasn’t so stupid as to believe the Sannin without having his own insurance policy in effect.

“Let’s get to work then,” he murmured.

He walked up to Naruto’s still form and began to manipulate the threads.

**********************
After what seemed like an eternity, yet wasn’t as long as Orochimaru had expected, Ren announced he was done. Unlike many of his clansmen, Ren did not have to touch the person he was working with, especially in this case since he was, in essence, inside of the boy. As long as he was in close proximity, he was able to cast the threads and anchor them to the Kyuubi as he needed.

It was like watching a master craftsman at work.

He had attached the threads to the demon last since it was most likely to react to the jutsu. Indeed, halfway through the process the creature started to stir. By the end it was struggling to stand and counteract what was being done to it, using what little chakra it had. Ren merely waiting until it had exhausted its small reserve before continuing to work, ignoring the snarls and growls.

The glowing threads poured off of Naruto and seemed to gather around his seal before twisting around the spiral to enter it. The threads then exited on the other side of the seal behind the bars before attaching themselves to the Kyuubi.

The demon tried to bite and claw at the threads but they seemed impervious to his efforts.

“If you break them improperly,” Ren spoke calmly, “you will kill your host.”

The demon stopped its efforts and gazed down at the two forms with narrowed eyes.

“You,” it said in its deep, booming voice while looking at Ren, “will die as soon as I can get the stupid brat and myself unbound.” It turned its gaze upon Orochimaru and something flickered in its eyes. “You, I will pull back within these bars and I will make sure you never escape again, Little Bitch.”

Orochimaru felt a cold wash of fear followed by a hotter wash of something which he didn’t want to name. “I will kill you myself before I allow anyone to put me back within those walls,” he boasted falsely.

While Orochimaru was distracted, Ren quickly made a few hand seals and slammed his palm into the Sannin’s back while simultaneously clutching his own chest. While he didn’t need to touch, it definitely served as an attention getter.

Orochimaru gasped as he felt something grip his soul momentarily. He was eerily reminded of the Shinigami before the sensation loosened into a steady hold. He turned blazing eyes onto Ren as the Kyuubi burst into roaring guffaws.

“You will leave Rice Field alone or we will both die,” Ren announced calmly.

Orochimaru restrained the almost overwhelming urge to attack the man next to him regardless of the consequences. He slowly eased back and tried to smile, though it came out more of a grimace.

“It appears that your stay with us is going to be longer than I had originally anticipated. But don’t worry; we have plenty of room for you.”

Having reached the limits of his chakra after his exhausting work, Ren finally faded from the prison. Orochimaru took one last look at the bound teenager and the darkly amused demon before he allowed himself to surface.

*************************
The Kyuubi let out an annoyed growl as the Little Bitch vanished from the area. It felt a strange sense of betrayal at the human’s actions. There was an odd tightness in its chest that was unrelated to the forced merging with the vessel.

It scowled, disgruntled at the sensation. Sometimes the brat’s emotions trickled over into it and the fox would feel things. Annoying things like concern, warmth, friendship and, possibly the most horrendous of all, love. The creature cringed at the word.

The sensation just had to be some wash over from the brat. The kitsune spirit grabbed the glowing threads of chakra and pulled at them again. His vessel let out an unconscious groan of pain and it felt a corresponding ache in its body as well.

If only it knew more about humans. Besides being obvious that they were frail creatures, the demon knew little about them. The demon’s chakra healed Naruto because it was a natural function to the demon. When it had been free, its wounds had always regenerated. The worse the wound, the greater the chakra that was required. The demon had never consciously tried to perform the healing, but rather had merely poured out more chakra so that it could perform its natural function. Asking the demon how it healed was like asking a bird how it flew or a fish how it swam. It just did.

As such, the creature had no clue as to how to safely sever the bonds that tied them together. What made the matter worse was that the child’s body had adapted to a certain extent to the demon’s chakra. The boy’s body did not see the further bonding as foreign and therefore did not reject it, but rather saw the merging as normal. However, Naruto’s body still wasn’t able to handle the full extent of the demon’s powers, even if it had started to become inured to it at lower levels.

A larger huff of a sigh escaped the being. For the first time in a long time, the demon felt tired and not just from chakra exhaustion. As if in antithesis to its thoughts, Naruto began to stir.

**********************
Orochimaru looked up from staring at his clawed hands and watched as they led Fuuma Ren through the door. The man had once again been blindfolded and bound. His men had orders to keep the wannabe Otokage alive, but were at liberty to make that life a living hell. Orochimaru would make sure that Ren was the safest man in the Five Shinobi Countries, but he would make sure that the man regretted every moment of it.

Orochimaru’s eyes fell to Sasuke’s still-drugged form. “Doctor,” he said calmly.

Togimeishu stood from the chair he had been napping in next to the girl’s bed. He had awoken to the sound of voices and the sight of the new captive being led away.

“It’s time,” Orochimaru announced through the lips of the blonde-headed boy.

Orochimaru made a few hand seals until the fingertips on his right hand glowed with a purple fire. He lifted his shirt with the other hand and practically slammed those digits onto his stomach, effectively sealing off the demon’s chakra. He swayed, looking as if he would pass out for a moment before slowly righting himself. His features, which had taken on the clawed hands, deepened whisker marks and red slit eyes of the Kyuubi, faded back to normal.

Togimeishu wished that there was some way that he could help the blonde, but he knew that once someone had been taken over by the Sannin that they were no longer there for all intents and purposes. They were a memory to be mourned by their loved ones. The only way he could repay the blonde for helping his son was by helping his dark-haired lover. It was for the sake of that same son that he couldn’t do more.

“It’s time,” Orochimaru repeated, casting a covetous look at the prone teen that would be mistaken for physical lust on someone else’s face. “Time for me to finally have those beautiful, red Sharingan eyes.”

TBC