The Sound of Dreams

AN: Greetings and salivations! Speaking of salivations, did anyone else think that Naruto looked really hot in Manga 330 at the funeral? /drool... Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter. I ended up making changes literally until the last minute! But then I have a tendency to proofread something 20 times before I post it. And, once again, thank you so much for your reviews! They truly brighten up my day!

Chapter 9


The room was narrow and both combatants were trying to avoid the motionless figure in the center. Kusanagi katana met kunai as the two clashed and retreated. Kabuto's offhand glowed with a bluish green light and Sasuke knew better than to allow himself to be touched by the medic-nin. The two ninja were pretty evenly matched and it was hard for either to gain the upper hand.

Sasuke was limited on the jutsus he was able to use since a lot of his favorites were fire based and while he didn't care what happened to the room or Kabuto, it would be pointless to fry the one he was trying to save.

Kabuto's style was more close range but with the katana keeping him at a distance it was difficult getting in any damage. The best he could do was drive the raven-haired ninja further away from his master.

Sharingan eyes spun wildly as they tracked and predicted Kabuto's movements. He was still partially caught off guard as the silver-haired ninja blurred in a lunge, going low. Sasuke blocked the kunai going for his gut but not the hand that tapped the back of his knee. The knee buckled suddenly as muscles were cut, rendering the leg unable to support his weight. He shifted his balance to his other leg and redoubled his efforts in keeping the smugly smiling older man at bay.

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Naruto heard the sounds of music and laughter outside and wanted to join so badly. He knew however that today wasn't a good day. For all of the fact that there would be a festival today and fireworks tonight and people celebrating with their loved ones, today was his birthday and he knew better than to show his face. He knew as the day wore on and more alcohol was consumed that the cold hateful stares became insults and the insults would then morph into subtle physical displays such as shoving and tripping. He never stayed to see what the next step might be, because even his seemingly oblivious young innocent mind told him to be afraid to stay out late.

But for now it was early and the six-year-old really just wanted to be a part of the fun and excitement for once. Resolved not to be afraid, but not to stay for too long, the little boy slipped out of the lonely one room apartment and into the shadows of the streets.

Staying to the alleys and side streets, he watched the beautiful people walking around in their kiminos and yukatas. All the colors of the rainbow were present and to Naruto all those bright colors were wondrous. It was then that he decided that one day he would have a brightly colored outfit as well so that people would look at him the same way. So they would notice him for once and see that he was just like them.

Happily, he walked down the alley intent on heading to the part of the festival that had games with prizes. He had enough to play one or two. Maybe this year he would get lucky and win a stuffed animal. He had always wanted one to keep him company at night. Whenever they would hand them out to the war orphans, he always managed to get jostled to the back of the line and they were always out by the time he got up to the front.

His thoughts were interrupted by a deep voice. "Looks like we caught ourselves a baby fox," it sneered.

He jerked his head up to see three men currently in the alley. From where he was he could tell by the smell of alcohol that they had started celebrating early. 'These are bad men...run!' his mind instructed fearfully. But for some reason his legs wouldn't move, his body wouldn't turn. He couldn't get away.

The first slap spun him to the ground where it was followed by a vicious kick to the ribs. His body tingled in a way that he knew would heal the boo-boos he got when he was careless with a shuriken or a kunai he sometimes found forgotten on the training grounds, but this hurt so much worse. A fist landed across his cheek and he could feel the very bones shift and crunch under the impact.

Just as he was about to curl into a whimpering and crying ball, he saw something. Something that tickled a memory in the back of his mind. One of the men had a tattoo on his bare shoulder. It was a large black snake that curled around his bicep. There was something about a snake that was important. Something more dangerous that the beating he was receiving.

As his head rebounded on the dirty cobbled ground, he saw a cat hidden in the shadows. It was watching intently with yellow eyes as if wanting him to see it. A snake. Yellow eyes. A snake with yellow eyes. A fight with a snake with yellow eyes. Orochimaru!!

Naruto gasped as if surfacing from being under water too long. He was standing in the sewers of Kyuubi's prison but the snake was nowhere in sight. Panicking, he turned and rushed to the room with the cage.

As he squelched to a halt on the flooded floor, he gave a yell of shocked dismay. A red wave of chakra was wrapping itself around the snake bastard, encasing him in power.

"You fucking fox, we had a deal!!" he shouted angrily.

Red eyes fastened on him contemptuously. "He was stronger." The glowing red figure flickered then was gone.

"It's not over yet!"

"Yes, brat, it is. You lost."

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Sasuke avoided strike after strike from those deadly hands, whether wielding a kunai or chakra scalpel. His left arm as well as his right leg was useless now, but at least Kabuto had some nasty slashes on him as well. At least until Sasuke watched them heal up almost as fast as Naruto did.

Grimacing, Sasuke deliberately allowed himself to lean on the wall. He normally would rather die than have someone think he was weak, but in this case he hoped it would be what kept him from dying.

Knowing that Orochimaru only needed the Sharingan eyes, Kabuto moved in for the kill. Sasuke, expecting the medic-nin to try to disable him with his chakra scalpel, was surprised as the kunai was thrown at him with deadly accuracy. He easily blocked the weapon with his sword, but had not seen the senbon that had been traveling hidden beneath the kunai. He only had time to register the gleam of liquid on the tip of the needle before it pierced his flesh.

Kabuto smirked then turned his back in disregard to the neutralized enemy. Sasuke felt fire radiate from the needle and his body became heavy and unresponsive in its wake.

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Orochimaru was flooded with power beyond his wettest dreams. Power to conquer, power to enslave, power with which he could attain true immortality. After all, demons were immortal and he had the spirit of one in his body. He knew there had to be a way to absorb its power and gain its longevity. After that, the world would be his playground.

The addictive surge carried him with its flow on a course back in control of this wondrous body. The Akatsuki were nothing to him now. This power combined with his knowledge would cause Konoha to topple at his whim.

He emerged from his mind into a world lit by glowing red chakra. A world ruled by fire and agony.

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Kabuto once again unrolled the scroll that would hopefully seal Naruto-kun's soul away. He had known this would be a risky venture even if it had been undertaken out of necessity. Inevitably, everyone underestimated the loudmouthed shinobi and usually ended up paying the price.

Sasuke watched as Kabuto smeared blood over the writing on the paper. 'I can't let them...I have to protect Naruto....need to just...move.' Sasuke was overwhelmed by a feeling that he hadn't experienced since his first mission to Wave Country as a genin. The way his heart (and he was astonished that he still had one that could be affected) clenched in anxiety at the thought of Naruto's death.

Kabuto started forming hand seals, not noticing the fiery eyes before him were starting to flood with awareness.

Sasuke growled at himself. He...Had...To... Move!! A surge of strength rushed through him and his body jerked away from where it had been slumped against the wall. Drawing up the last of his reserves, he formed the Chidori Nagashi and electrical arcs danced over his body, the sound of a thousand birds chirping almost deafening in the confined area.

Kabuto knew what was happening. He knew he only had seconds to finish the jutsu and he was only half way through it. His regeneration was already working and he had to hope that it would keep him alive long enough to ensure that his master had complete dominance of the body before him. And while he might fear his own death, he did not believe that it would happen at the hands of the Uchiha.

Sasuke lifted his sword almost ponderously and plunged it through Kabuto's back, channeling lightning down the blade. As Kabuto yelled out in searing pain, blood flying from between his lips, his cry was eclipsed tenfold by another.

Red chakra engulfed Naruto's body in a frighteningly familiar silhouette. Hand and finger bones broke, stretched and healed as claws sprouted from the elongated digits. Jaw bones shattered and reformed in an almost snout like shape as fangs pushed out from his upper gums. Ears lifted and grew more pointed as the whisker like scars deepened and thickened on the tan cheeks. Feet followed hands as bones snapped and broke allowing the heels to shift upwards, each foot extending until the weight was balanced on the clawed toes. The fragile silk robe disintegrated under the burning power of the demonic chakra that encased the now crouching figure.

One Tail.
A sharp cry gave evidence of both the ecstasy and ache that hummed through the body, chakra channels distending with the deluge of power.

Two Tails.
A scream as the body started bursting at the tenketsu points only to heal over and rip open again.

Three Tails.
Mind numbing pain and anguish as the coveted power destroyed him and remade him over and over. He was fast losing his sanity under the unrelenting torture and he could feel his mind slipping away. His continuous screams cut off abruptly as darkness consumed him.

Four Tails.
He was in control once again.

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Sasuke watched in horrified fascination as the tails kept forming and the screams became more frantic and desperate. He had only seen this... transformation once before and then it had only shown one tail. The power pulsated off the being in waves drowning him in both fear and exhilaration.

The fourth tail formed after the sudden deafening silence. The eyes looked around quickly, but not frantically. A newly awakened creature ensuring that its surroundings were safe. Those blood red eyes met his and he knew.

"Naruto," he whispered.

Those eyes zeroed in on him, then a scowl formed. Sasuke had a brief moment to wonder whether he should defend himself, whether this part of Naruto might still resent getting a hand shoved through his chest or not. But then he saw what had garnered that look.

A fifth tail was budding behind him.

"No. This is enough. I will not let it happen," Naruto growled out in a gravelly base voice. It almost seemed he was talking to someone rather than himself. Sasuke could hazard a guess as to whom. After a moment the fifth bud disappeared.

Those eyes focused on Sasuke again, seemingly ignoring the way his body ripped apart around him. Naruto's gaze lifted to the body of Kabuto in front of him still slumped over on Sasuke's sword. Eyes quickly pinpointed slowly healing wounds on the still form. Without hesitation, he reached back, formed a Rasengan and drove it into Kabuto's chest.

Sasuke blinked as the blood spray hit his face. He jerked back more from the almost indifferent look on Naruto's face than from any distaste from the action itself. He had seen many worse things while he had been Orochimaru's apprentice.

The nude form crawled toward him on all fours with surprising grace and eyed him. He then realized that although it was Naruto behind the eyes, his psyche was being bombarded with the demon's instincts and impulses, slowly overriding his friend's usual inhibitions and behaviors. Those eyes hotly assessed him, nostrils flaring slightly as his scent was caught and analyzed.

"Mine," the voice growled calmly.

He didn't think that Naruto was trying to claim him (although that thought did funny things to his stomach and perhaps a bit lower) but rather was identifying him as friend or foe. The gaze swung easily to the door then back to him and he could tell that his friend was fading fast and the demon was just below the surface.

"Stay." Then the figure darted out through the door faster than his Sharingan could follow.

Sasuke decided, as he heard the screams start out in the lair, that he would take his friend's suggestion. While he wanted to join the fight and set himself against a certain select few of the more powerful Sound shinobi in the hideout, he really didn't want to be mistaken as one of them by a blood-lusting Naruto.

He moved over to the still form of Kabuto, eyeing the man dubiously. He gripped his katana in both hands and decided to make sure that he was truly dead. He didn't think he could regenerate his head.

Several minutes later, the burning started in the curse seal placed upon him by Orochimaru.


TBC