The Sound of Dreams

AN: Just wanted to welcome all the new readers as well as thank everyone for all of the reviews and all of their support!

I hope I am not boring anyone with the huge fight scene, but it just fit so well with everything that is happening! Hopefully next chapter things should start to resolve themselves!!

Hopefully most of your questions will be answered as this plays out. If you still have any, feel free to ask!!

A special thanks to Adi who helped me beta this when mine had to leave for a work in a hurry this morning!!

Chapter 62


The two warriors stood staring at each other for a long moment, both quietly regaining their breaths from their fast paced, chakra-laden battle until Orochimaru could no longer contain his need to gloat. With a deep, almost sadistic sounding chuckle, the Sannin grinned over at the Uchiha prodigy.

“You are no match for me, Itachi-kun,” the snake master said with a certain amount of satisfaction coloring his tone.

“It doesn’t matter how much power you acquire when you lack the character to use it to its fullest potential. You are just as weak now as you were before,” Itachi said in an emotionless voice that conveyed his utter disregard for the man in front of him.

Orochimaru growled and lashed out at the pale man standing before him, while he didn’t get closer; the red aura around his clawed hand reached out and missed by mere centimeters as Itachi leaned just enough to be out of the way.

“You have hatred but you lack focus and discipline. You are just as pathetic as my little brother,” he concluded.

“Your leader will need his precious Kekkei Genkai to find all the pieces of you that I will leave behind,” Orochimaru sneered.

The arrogant fool was underestimating him and Orochimaru would teach him otherwise. He had the demon’s power, channeled through the bindings so that the pain that accompanied it would be transferred to the brat, leaving him free to draw on it to his heart’s content without the side-effects. Of course he had to be careful not to burn the bindings out and kill the original vessel, if he did that he would be back to square one; all that power and no way to use it without the extreme pain that came with it.

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Sasuke felt the tightness in his chest increase, he had to do something. He couldn’t just sit here and watch Naruto get torn apart by those two bastards.

“Sasuke,” a voice said sharply from behind him. He glanced over to see Shikamaru looking at him in concern. “Is your head in the right place for this? If you can’t get it together you will be useless to him.”

Sasuke tightened his fists for a moment before consciously relaxing his body. “I’m ready,” he said simply.

“I want you, Sai and Gai to take on your brother. Your goal is to keep him away from Naruto’s body. We aren’t here to capture or kill him, just keep him away until we can get Kakashi inside,” Shikamaru looked at him closely, making sure that he understood. Frankly, he expected Sasuke to do his own thing once he got down there. However, he wanted to give the Uchiha a direction, a focus so he wouldn’t be torn, so he wouldn’t have to be the one to make the decision of who to face off with. He found it hard to believe that the younger Uchiha was concerned with anything other than his brother, but Shino’s words to him in private coupled with the look on Sasuke’s face lent credence to the idea that he did, in fact, care about Naruto after all.

“What about me?” asked a young, but very determined voice.

Shikamaru looked down at the green-eyed boy who glared up at him challengingly. “I need you to stay safe until Kakashi is inside Naruto’s head. Once there, he will be defenseless. I need you to watch his back.” Shikamaru figured it would be the safest place for the child. Sakura would make sure nothing happened to him and he would stay out of the fight until Shikamaru himself had successfully shadow-bound the blond jinchuuriki.

Hiroki gave him a solemn nod and prepared himself to wait.

“Let’s go,” Shikamaru told the others, having already handed out everyone else’s assignment.

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Deidara stood groggily, shaking his head to try to stop the ringing in his ears. The smell of burnt cloth surrounded him and every part of his body ached. That last explosion would have killed him had he not heard the tag at the last moment and leapt from the bird.

As it was, he was fairly worse for wear. He glanced around to see the torn up terrain and spotted Orochimaru and Itachi going at it. Neither one did anything on a small scale and he was seriously thinking about backing off until one of them killed the other. Not that Leader-sama would be happy that the jinchuuriki was dead.

He was about to make good on his plan when something stopped him. Three somethings actually. He grimaced at the Leaf symbol on the hitae-ate. Well, there went that idea.

Neji and Lee spread out on either side of the blond-haired Akatsuki member, remembering from their briefing en route that it was the one called Deidara and he was noted for his explosives.

“Not too confident if you pit three against one, yeah,” the blond said with a smirk on his soot-streaked face.

Lee looked like he was about to rise to the bait and make some strident comment when a slight shake of Neji’s head stopped him. Neji was correct although Lee didn’t like to admit it. These were strong enough opponents that any moment of inattention could mean disastrous consequences.

Tenten let fly a volley of kunai, forcing Deidara to leap toward Lee. Lee, used to working with his team, was ready for the maneuver and moved into Deidara with a flying kick to the face. Deidara blocked, keeping his face from being hit but still took the brunt of the damage to his already bruised arms in doing so.

Neji immediately moved in as well with another kick, this one aimed at the back of the missing-nin’s knee to try to handicap his movement. The name of the game was to try to keep the blond so busy that he didn’t have time to reach into his goody bag of explosives. Lee hammered him from one side, Neji took the other and any time Deidara managed to get the two away from him, he had to dodge thrown weapons of all shapes and sizes.

It was while he was dodging a spiked flail that he managed to get his hands on his clay. Knowing that he didn’t have a lot of time to craft something extravagant, he held his hands up and started to shoot marble-sized balls out that exploded upon impact.

Neji couldn’t use his blocking abilities since the bullets of clay would just explode anyway and had to start dodging around the rapid-fire projectiles. Tenten countered many with her kunai and shuriken, losing the weapons in the process as mini-detonations took place. Lee zigged and zagged around the bombs until he was behind Deidara. He threw a powered punch at the nin’s unprotected back, only to have his arm caught by his opponent.

His eyes widened in surprise as he jerked his arm away. “You bit me!” he accused as if the act went against his notions of fair play.

Deidara held up a hand which promptly stuck its tongue out at the shocked shinobi. He then whirled around and kicked Neji back to a safer distance. He jumped up, made a hand seal and the clay implanted in the threads of Lee’s green pride and joy detonated.

Lee yelled out in pain as the muscles in his arm were torn asunder by the explosion.

Deidara pulled out another bird from a pocket in his cloak and enlarged it before hopping aboard.

Tenten let out a frustrated yell and pulled out two scrolls from her weapon’s pouch. Doing a maneuver much like she had in the Chuunin exams against Temari, she threw the two scrolls in the air, causing them to unravel as they rose. A veritable barrage hurled itself at the missing-nin, causing him to duck and dodge both with the bird and on the back of the bird. He snickered as most of the weapons missed, a few of them only having gotten close enough to pin his cloak down.

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Kakashi, Sakura, Yamato and Hiroki moved towards Orochimaru as Gai, Sasuke and Sai moved towards the eldest Uchiha. The other teams moved to contain and suppress the remaining enemy forces that the snake Sannin had brought with him as well as moved into back up positions for the other Konoha-nins. Shikamaru disappeared into the shadows to get into a better location to help with the subduing of Orochimaru.

He watched in approval as Hinata practically danced among the enemy nin, her gentle fist style effectively knocking out those that made the mistake of staying within her range for any length of time. Chouji was super-sized and rolling around in his spiked meat-tank form. Shikamaru knew that the dual techniques would eat up a lot of the young man’s chakra but also knew that they were highly effective when used in conjunction.

Shino was causing general mayhem and confusion on the battlefield with his insects as Kiba and Akamaru mowed through the enemy using their double-headed dog form. Ino fought but only used her chakra when necessary, trying to save as much back as she could for any medical jutsu that she might have to use in the aftermath.

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The first thing that Sakura did to help break up the fight was to slam her fist into the ground, causing it to buckle and groan in protest. Both combatants jumped away from the crater formed, searching for solid ground.

Now that they were split up, the two groups of Leaf-nin turned and faced their targets.

“You really don’t expect me to be impressed by your theatrics, do you, little girl?” Orochimaru asked with a twist to his lips. However, his eyes were wary, remembering another particular female who had that kind of enormous strength.

The red-furred tails were held outright, stiff and unmoving behind him. Kakashi, who was familiar with canines, recognized that the Sannin wasn’t nearly as complacent as he pretended to be.

Moving his hands up in a seal that was Sakura’s cue, Kakashi quickly performed an earth jutsu that allowed him to literally walk through rock just as Sakura punched the ground once again. The ground shook and rumbled, large chunks of stone buckling under the pressure. Orochimaru was forced back while Kakashi just allowed the ruptured ground to pass through him.

Cancelling the jutsu, he lifted up his headband and moved into melee with the Sannin.

Yamato and Hiroki moved around the perimeters of the fight, watching for an opportunity for Yamato to suppress the Kyuubi’s powers. A stray shinobi came their way once in a while but was quickly dispatched. The child started to look slightly annoyed when the older man kept moving in front of him to protect him. He was capable of defending himself. He was capable of doing his part in bringing Naruto back to himself.

Kakashi and Orochimaru started their version of a jutsu war as they both began drawing on their vast knowledge of techniques. It seemed that no matter who pulled out what, the other knew a counter for it.

When Kakashi started the earth jutsu seals again, Orochimaru recognized it immediately. Growling, he jumped back out of the way before the pink-haired kunoichi could pound on the ground again. Simultaneously, a red-chakra hand lashed out at her and knocked her into the tree line with enough force to render her unconscious.

It was only when he landed and then couldn’t move afterwards did he realized that they had been herding him into position. He started to strain against the shadow-bind when he felt the seals being thrown onto him. His eyes darted around to see Yamato on one knee, mumbling under his breath and holding his hands in a particular seal.

Orochimaru’s eyes widened as he felt the Kyuubi’s strength draining away.

“Orochimaru,” Kakashi intoned. Unthinkingly, the Sannin turned towards the Jounin. “Gotcha,” the copy-nin finished.

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As Sasuke moved towards his brother, he shot a look at his two companions. “When we get there, he’s mine. If he kills me, then you are free to do as you wish,” he said in a determined voice.

“While my heart admires your burning passion, it is probably not the wisest choice for you to make,” Gai commented, concern apparent in his voice.

“It’s a matter of honor,” Sasuke stated firmly, knowing which of Gai’s buttons to hit. “It is a duty to my clan.”

Gai sighed, clearly reluctant.

“And I want to do it for Naruto,” he added softly.

Gai finally nodded despite his misgivings. “I will guard your back from those who would interfere,” he stated. “I’m sure your convictions will give you the strength you need to protect your friends and your precious people.”

Sai shrugged carelessly. “Your funeral. I’m sure there will be several who will want to consoll Naruto afterwards.”

Sasuke shot him an evil glare. “If I’m dead, then it won’t matter to me and I wasn’t worthy of him to begin with.”

Sai smirked but didn’t reply as he and Gai dropped back, clearly standing down from the fight.

Sasuke stepped up to Itachi, who was calmly evaluating the fights around him and noting the enemy’s numbers.

Itachi turned his gaze, redder than the blood decorating the ground around them, onto his brother and Sasuke felt the full weight of the Sharingan on defenseless eyes. His mind felt the pull of the genjutsu even without his Uchiha eyes and was able to resist Itachi’s manipulations.

Itachi’s head tilted just a few degrees to the side as if an interesting puzzle had caught his attention, even if only briefly. “Is there any further that you can sink, foolish little brother?” he taunted quietly. “Step down; you aren’t even worth my time now.”

“You’ve said that more than once, yet you still end up fighting me,” Sasuke said shortly. “Perhaps I’m not as worthless as you keep spouting.”

“Step aside, Sasuke. I have your little friend to collect,” he murmured.

“You’ll never get your bloodstained hands on him,” Sasuke promised darkly.

“Do not make absolute statements on matters over which you have no control,” his brother cautioned him.

In response, Sasuke pulled out his sword.

Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly before calmly pulling out a kunai from underneath his robe.

Blue eyes slitted at the implied insult before Sasuke hurled himself at his brother.

While Sasuke still had his speed, he had lost the ability to see things clearly before or as they happened. He was able to block many of his brother’s attacks, but feints were a weakness for him since he was unable to detect the false movements until they had already occurred. Itachi quickly recognized this and started to use this knowledge to his advantage.

It wasn’t long before Sasuke was lying face down on the ground.

“Pathetic,” his brother proclaimed in a toneless voice.

‘Get up, you moron! You can’t let him win! You can’t let him get to Naruto!’

Itachi had turned toward Gai when he heard a sound behind him. He turned in time to block the kunai that had been thrown with deadly accuracy. His little brother had gotten up on his knees and was in the process of standing.

Looking slightly annoyed, the older brother started to stalk lazily back to his sibling, intending on finishing the fight. Once he was standing within striking distance, he casually raised his arm and backhanded the younger man.

Just as the hit connected, Sasuke activated his Chidori Nagashi. Itachi was thrown a few meters away, temporarily stunned. Sasuke staggered over to him, sword raised and ready to deliver a fatal blow.

A kick to his stomach doubled him over as Itachi shook off the lingering effects of the jutsu. As punishment for his audacity, Itachi switched to full taijutsu and started hammering Sasuke once more with attacks hidden within other moves until once again the boy was on the ground.

Itachi stood there a moment, waiting. When the other didn’t move, he stepped back and started to turn. He stopped when his brother started to move again. His lips turned downward as he stepped back up and brought his foot down hard onto his brother’s back. He heard a satisfactory cracking sound that returned a fair amount of his calmness to him once more.

That problem had been solved.

He turned, his red-clouded black cloak swinging out around him as he faced the taijutsu master. His opponent however, didn’t move. Eyes narrowing, he whipped back around.

His brother had made it to his feet once more.

What’s more, Sasuke was pulling his shirt off over his head and tossing it aside, revealing the bruised ribs as well as several bleeding cuts.

“I will do…whatever I have to,” the younger man panted out, “to make sure you never… get anywhere near him.” At that point in time, the mark on his neck started glowing with a orange, burning light before his skin started to darken, his hair started to grey out and, with a painful grunt, grotesque wings started to sprout from his back

Itachi realized that he was looking at the final results of what Orochimaru had done to his brother; of what his brother had allowed to be done to him.

Itachi also knew that fancy wings weren’t going to save his brother.

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Kakashi looked with wide eyes at his sensei’s last creation and, more specifically, at the figure crucified upon it. There were so many chakra threads surrounding the boy and leading back into the cage that he didn’t know where to start.

Naruto gave a soft moan of both relief and discomfort. He was no longer in pain since the Kyuubi’s power was no longer running through him, yet it felt as if every molecule of his body ached.

He blinked his eyes open and looked down at the floor again. He was slightly shocked to see a silver-haired figure there.

“Don’t just stand there,” a voice growled from behind him. “Do something, you useless human.”

Kakashi forced himself not to take a step backwards. He knew that voice well; it had haunted his dreams for quite a while after that battle sixteen years ago. “Kyuubi,” he intoned as neutrally as he could. It wouldn’t do to piss off the demon in these particular circumstances.

Maybe later he would come back and poke at the animal in the cage for fun.

“You need to get the seals off of me,” Naruto interrupted. “They’re what hold me in place.”

Kakashi looked closer and could barely make out the seven seals buried beneath all of the threads. He cautiously climbed up the bars of the prison, keeping a wary eye on the beast within. Once in position, he studied the seal around the boy’s forehead.

Nodding to himself, he wedged his body carefully to prevent himself from falling and made a quick series of seals before touching his hands to the symbols. The kanji on the seal burned away and the paper fluttered to the ground harmlessly.

“Yes! I knew you could do it, Kaka-sensei!” Naruto crowed jubilantly.

“Of course, Naruto, I’m a shinobi of many talents,” he said with a grin under his mask.

He quickly repeated the gesture again and took off the seal surrounding the boy’s throat.

“Kakashi,” a voice hissed behind him dangerously.

Barely holding back a sigh, Kakashi turned to face Orochimaru. “Hang tight, Naruto. I’ll be back in a minute.” With that he hopped down to the water-soaked floor below.

“It’s a little crowded in here,” Orochimaru stated maliciously. “It’s time for you to go.”

“Neither of us belongs here,” Kakashi countered. “And I’ll be happy to take you with me when I leave.”

The two shinobi tensed, ready to continue their fight.

TBC