The Sound of Dreams

AN: Hope you all enjoy this. There is a little bit of spoiler info here concerning Deidara’s past and recruitment into Akatsuki. I couldn’t help it, I just had to use the information.

Tia: The names that were given: Kaa = mother and Chichiue = father, but more informal. Sai was basically trying to get Hiroki to call Naruto Mother :D

KunoichiAddy: I’m glad that you are liking the story so well!! I always love to see new readers!!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to review last chapter as well as all the previous chapters! You guys are awesome!! A new chapter for Blackmail and Betrayal should be out this Saturday!

The fight begins….


Chapter 61


Deidara watched Orochimaru’s men as they stopped for a break in their trek towards Konoha. He shifted slightly on his perch in the tree, waiting for his companion to say something. He had thought Tobi had been annoying with his incessant talking, but he almost would have welcomed the noise from another living being rather than the continued and total silence from the man next to him.

He still thought that the Uchiha was an arrogant prick and wouldn’t hesitate to tell anyone that solicited his opinion. However, he was less willing to admit that he was glad that the arrogant prick was on their side. He was sure that he had improved greatly since that day that he had been recruited into Akatsuki. The recruitment process had of course entailed his defeat at the hands of Itachi with such ease that it had been humiliating. He had no doubts that if they once again faced off that the outcome would be a lot different.

Not that he could be bothered with a repeat performance. It would be like blowing up a building and then watching them rebuild it only to blow it up again. So passé. There were too many other works of art out there for him to pursue to worry about something like some silly past altercation with Itachi.

Even if the man was an arrogant prick.

A cheating arrogant prick.

Finally Itachi spoke. “You take to the air and use your explosives to reduce their numbers. I will take on Orochimaru directly. After all, we know that you are weak against the Sharingan.”

Arrogant prick.

After contemplating the possible repercussions of dropping a C2 level little bug down the back of Itachi’s pants, he nodded his assent. “Are you sure that you can handle him, yeah? After all, you can’t use your eyeball trick on him since he has the same gimmick and he has a demon to pull on. It might be difficult even for you, yeah.”

A pair of almost dead black eyes turned towards him. “He might have the Sharingan, but I know how to use it. Now go, we’ve wasted enough time.”

Deidara casually reached under his cloak, rubbing the back of his hand against his chest.

Itachi calmly turned back to the scene below them. “Don’t make me break that hand. It would interfere with our mission.”

Deidara quickly pulled the tongue back inside of his palm and stood as if he hadn’t heard the threat. He took his leave, intending to back track slightly before pulling his bird out.

Itachi watched the area closely, or rather Orochimaru closely. He had already determined that there weren’t any other shinobi present to be concerned about. Apparently the snake hadn’t bothered to fall back and rebuild his forces before striking out at Konoha. Not surprising really, the Sannin had always been overly impressed with his own prowess. His overconfidence would lead to his downfall and Itachi was more than happy to be the one to assist in the inevitability.

The fact that the Sannin was standing there with ruby-colored, swirling eyes stirred the beginnings of irritation within Itachi. His brother had been careless. He should have killed the jinchuuriki as soon as he had discovered that the Sannin had possessed the boy. But then his brother had never been one for rational thought.

Of course, had Sasuke done so, then Itachi himself would have failed in his own mission so he supposed that his brother’s sentimentality worked to his advantage. However, he couldn’t help but be disappointed by his brother’s inability to rid himself of his pointless and ultimately self-defeating attachment to the demon-vessel.

His thoughts were interrupted by the first loud “boom” which resulted in the prone bodies of several men and the scurrying forms of others. He looked up and saw that his current teammate was working on dropping more of his explosives into the clearing. Taking that as his cue, he leapt from the large branch and straight toward the blond-headed figure below.


Orochimaru glanced up as he felt the surge of chakra right before the first explosion. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the figure atop the large white bird. The man would have to be taken out quickly before he lost too many of his troops. He started to look around for the other Akatsuki that was undoubtedly present. He knew that they always traveled in pairs, especially after his own defection from the organization.

His eyes widened as he saw Uchiha Itachi heading his direction.

His first instinct was to find a way to retreat from the powerful shinobi, but then he remembered that he not only had the Sharingan now as well, but the Kyuubi at his disposal. Now was the time to prove just how powerful he had truly become.

He quickly made the necessary seals, bit his thumb and ran the blood down the dark, serpentine tattoo encircling his tanned arm. There was a huge cloud of smoke and when it cleared, a large purple snake surveyed the area. His eyes riveted on the blond when he sensed Orochimaru’s soul within the body. “You better have the appropriate sacrifices after your last foul up-“

“There will be no talk of sacrifices,” Orochimaru growled out. “You will do what I say and when I say it.”

Clearly surprised and just as clearly offended, the boss snake reared back as if to strike out. Its reptilian eyes widened as a red aura suddenly surrounded the body that the Sannin currently inhabited. The body’s features, which had already sported claws and dark whisker-like marks, became more animalistic. The eyes narrowed down, the ears became more pointed and fangs protruded down from the upper gums.

The aura was immediately recognized by Manda and the serpent pulled back instinctively. Watching warily, it bowed to its master, ready to do his bidding.

“Keep the Uchiha busy while I deal with the other nuisance,” Orochimaru ordered in a pleased voice. It was about damn time that the snake acknowledged him as his true master.


Itachi allowed himself to land short of the deserter as the giant snake turned its attention onto him. He calmly pulled his sword out as the creature lunged at him. Leaping to the side at the last minute, he brought the weapon down onto the purple scales behind the summon’s head. The weapon scraped off the hardened skin harmlessly. Itachi leapt back as the snake twitched its head toward him, jaws snapping shut where he had been merely seconds ago.


Orochimaru scowled as another explosion went off. At this rate he would be appearing before the Konoha gates alone. Not that he didn’t think he couldn’t wipe out the village by himself, it was just that it was easier to do when you kept everyone else occupied.

Quickly making and discarding several ideas, Orochimaru suddenly smirked. It would be so fitting. He lifted his hands into a seal and channeled a portion of the vast reserves of chakra at his disposal into it.

Over a half dozen copies of himself sprang into being, each with the same twisted smile on its face. Nodding in unison, they jumped away, each with its own part in the plan to play.


Up in the air, Deidara laughed as the explosions went off. It was a nice touch to see body parts flying through the air, the spray of blood glittering and glistening in the sunlight before splashing down in a random pattern that was so much more beautiful because it was natural. He couldn’t have taken a brush and painted it better had he tried.

Of course, unsurprisingly, the lovely and arresting display was interrupted by a fireball that was aimed at the giant snake below just before Itachi back pedaled through the blood, marring its beauty and turning it into something mundane and vulgar.

Arrogant non-art-loving prick.

The snake weathered the fireball well enough with only a few singed marks blackening its scales. In return it opened its maw and projected a stream of greenish liquid toward the pale shinobi. Itachi leapt into the air, avoiding the venom and took the opportunity to slash once again at the snake. He had been aiming at its underside this time in hopes that it was softer and therefore more vulnerable. More than likely it was, considering the snake almost twisted in on itself to avoid the blow.

Deidara’s attention was pulled from his partner when two figures looking exactly like Orochimaru appeared in a swirl of smoke. Working in tandem, both figures slammed their feet into his chest, effectively knocking him off of his bird. He wasn’t concerned at first because he knew that his bird would just circle back around and he would be fine. However, the two Orochimaru’s flipped in the air and dove down at him feet first.

Directly below him three other Orochimaru clones were performing another jutsu. The vast expanse of ground suddenly turned to sludge, the dead bodies that were once upon it sinking into its depths. He was just about to use his own teleportation technique when another set of kicks drove him right into the muck.

A moment later, the white clay bird dove into the swamp after him.


Itachi frowned up at the large snake. The creature was immune to his gaze, had armored scales, was fast and was seriously starting to annoy him. He glanced over at Orochimaru, trying to gauge his strength with the little information that he had at his disposal. Deciding quickly before the purple snake had time to strike again, he started to make hand seals.

Black flame rushed at the snake, engulfing its form. Itachi frowned as the supposed carcass started to collapse in on itself. He looked around a moment before the rumbling of the ground answered his unasked question. He jumped out of the way just as the snake burst out from under his feet.

Even though the snake had shed its skin, black flame still danced along its body, indicating it hadn’t been quite fast enough to avoid all of the effects of the Amaterasu. Manda gave out a yowling hiss, flicked its tail in a looping motion designed to try to avoid the pattern detecting abilities of the Sharingan. It was only partially effective, catching Itachi with the tips of its tail. The one swipe flung him a few meters away and allowed the giant reptile to make its escape, hoping it could find a way to put out the still agonizingly hot fire that burned its body.


Orochimaru watched as the smoke billowed away, clearing the battlefield once more and revealing that Manda had returned to his own domain. He made a motion to his clones and they surrounded him, facing the now unoccupied Uchiha. The seals started as Itachi climbed back to his feet, ready to face Orochimaru.

Five different lines of blue fire raced towards Itachi, forcing the shinobi to once again move out of the way. The fire followed his movements, flaring up every now and then to try to enshroud him in the fierce, hot flames. Itachi kept moving, calculating every step he took, every leap he made until he was right in front of the Sannin. With one swipe of his sword, he removed all of the clones, leaving only him and Orochimaru.


The bird erupted out of the sludge, a figure clinging precariously to its back.

Deidara situated himself more firmly upon the avian’s back, coughing up water and sludge from the mouth on his face as well as the two on his hands. He shook out his hair and quickly scanned the clearing, trying to gauge where they stood.

He saw that Itachi was facing Orochimaru now and nodded to himself, pleased that they hadn’t lost any ground even though he had been out of the fight for a few moments. He had been sure that his absence would have caused Itachi at least a few problems. Not only did his partner appear to have everything under control, but the prick didn’t even have a scratch on him. No, wait. There! Yes! Deidara felt vindicated. Itachi did indeed have a scratch on him.

One or two at least.

He scowled down at the other Akatsuki member, refraining from dropping a few bombs in his vicinity. He was interrupted from his contemplations as those damn three clones that had made the swamp suddenly appeared up around him. They landed on the bird and began to fight. Deidara, knowing what to expect this time, didn’t let them unseat him. A few small bugs, a few swift kicks and exploding clones completed the montage rather satisfactorily.

He didn’t see the exploding tag that was stuck on the bottom of his mount, merrily burning away.


Naruto grit his teeth as the red chakra surged through his spiritual form before flooding his body. The snake bastard had been pulling at it steadily for days now, but the level had recently been increased. The stinging pain wasn’t really that bad yet, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything and so had nothing else to concentrate on except that sensation. It was like the proverbial Chinese water torture. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t stop it; it was a constant, maddening stream that wouldn’t cease.

“Don’t lose it yet, brat,” the growling voice behind him rumbled. “There has to be a way out of this mess you got us into.”

“I got us into?” he demanded angrily. “You shouldn’t have let him escape. You would think that for an ‘all powerful demon’ that you could keep one measely human locked up with you.”

“If you hadn’t worn me out by pulling on all of my chakra, then I would have kept him where he belonged; on his hands and knees with my dick up his ass,” the demon argued with rising ire.

“You are one sick son of a-“

“Don’t you dare even finish that sentence. I’m not the only one that keeps his bitch on the floor and frequently mated,” Kyuubi growled out menacingly.

Naruto felt something clench in his chest as thoughts of Sasuke once again filled his mind. He hoped that the bastard was alright. He hoped that he had defeated his brother finally or, better yet, had found a way to disable the psychotic fucker and dragged him back to Konoha. He could only hope that Sasuke wasn’t anywhere near him and would stay that way until he found a way out of this screwed up predicament.

He didn’t know if he could survive the death of his mate. Sasuke had come to mean everything to him, more than his dreams, more than the village, more than his own life.

He suddenly felt a pulling sensation from the seal upon his stomach. Like something was trying to suck his innards out through his navel. He heard the Kyuubi growl darkly behind him right before he felt the rush of power sweep along the chakra lines through his body and then out of the seal. Fire burned in its wake, causing Naruto to buck against the bars of the cage, a cry struggling to make it way out between his lips.

The power burst from his seal, flooding outward and into his corporeal body; finally drawing the tortured cry from his throat.


Itachi watched as Orochimaru drew upon the Kyuubi’s power even further. The aura started to form the shape of the fox even as the body contorted to try and match it, although poorly. However, once the tails started forming from the red chakra, a corresponding tail formed into being in a physical sense as well. Itachi watched with some bemusement as four red-furred tails started to twitch and swirl behind the blond.

He had seen other jinchuuriki taken over by their demons, but none had turned out like this. Furthermore, looking into the red slit-pupil, Sharingan eyes, he could still see that Orochimaru was in control. This was definitely something he hadn’t foreseen.

“I think it’s time to show you what I’ve really learned over the years,” the gravelly voice boasted.

Not responding to the taunt, Itachi merely readied himself, confident in the outcome of the battle.

The explosion sounding from up above signaled the beginning of their fight.


Sasuke drew to a halt along with the others back in the tree line surrounding the torn up clearing. The amount of devastation was mind boggling and it didn’t seem to be stopping any time soon.

Two shinobi were engaged in combat down below, their forms moving at a speed of which only a few (Gai, Lee and himself in their current group) were capable. His lover’s eyes were unable to keep up with the motion, causing an uneasiness deep within him. He knew what he had to do, but he couldn’t help but doubt his ability to do it in his current state.

One of the men was being hammered more so than the other by Ninjutsu techniques, one after another, but it didn’t appear to be hampering him too much. Every item in the clearing was a prospective weapon; sticks, rocks and anything else that could be manipulated with the elements were used to become projectiles and traps, all potentially lethal. The skies opened up and rained lightning, the wind became swift and sharp, the ground erupted or collapsed. It was all happening so incredibly fast.

The two warriors parted and became stationary for a moment. It was then that Sasuke could see who they were.

His possessed lover and his psychotic brother faced each other and for the life of him, he wasn’t sure who he wanted to confront first.

TBC