A.N.- I wanted to thank those of you for showing your concern and encouraging through my illness these last few months. I really appreciate it. I also want to thank everyone, because no one got mad at the long delay and started flaming me because of it. When I get sick, I get sick for a very long time (four months straight this round) I'm finally feeling better for the most part, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will remain that way.

Special Thanks! I forgot to mention this last time, but I wanted to send a special shout out to BlackProdigy for regularly contacting me over my long absence to make sure I wasn't dead and for giving me gentle nudges to continue writing. If you haven't read her stuff then check it out!

Note! I make quite a few references in this chapter about previous chapters, so some of you might have difficulty if you haven't read them in a while. I tried to make it understandable, but we'll have to see.

Beta'd by- TreeStar!

That Time I Went Down Fighting

27. Daydreams Are Made of These

"The application of the six point star within the hexagonal polygon was created by a sage warrior during the first great war. Though his name is now lost to the ages, his advanced seal was found to take no blood when activated, just the use of chakra. Other similar seals have been created throughout history, those using blood for the initial activation and then affecting unknowing victims in the vicinity as a silent trap."

Sasuke sighed, a frown creasing his bows as he glared halfheartedly at the book in front of him. Saving his spot on the page, Sasuke flipped the thick tomb closed and looked at the cover. Seals Throughout the Ages. Had he read this one before? It was hard to remember. All of the books and scrolls seemed to blend together at this point, their information overlapping one another in some form or another. And yet, none of them held the information he was looking for.

Unwilling to give up, Sasuke re-opened the book to where his hand was lodged between the pages and blinked blearily at the small font littering the yellowed paper. His fingers trailed over an elaborately drawn seal that took up a large portion of the right page, the small text below it stated "This seal was created to keep large portions of soil enriched with nutrients throughout the entire year. However, farmers found its application difficult due to its complexity and its need to cover the entire land it would be affecting."

"Hn," Sasuke released a small breath. Interesting, but ultimately useless.

His eyes left the page and traveled over the scrolls and books that were littering the wide desk he was using, wondering if he would have better luck with one of those. He frowned, probably not.

A sudden chill ran through him, making goosebumps raise on his skin and Sasuke pulled the blanket that was on his lap a little higher. His eyes glanced over to the fire in the corner to see that is was burning low, but resisted the urge to go and put another log on. He didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to himself.

Not that it would really make a difference; after all, he had a right to be in the royal library, but being there in the dead of night was a little strange and might cause the wrong people to ask questions or at least let his activities be known to people he didn't want them known to. It wouldn't be so bad if they just glanced in, assuming he was just finishing up some late work for his father, but upon further inspection Sasuke would have some problems that he wasn't prepared to deal with.

However, he reasoned, he had been at this for nearly a month. Even though the idea of how this whole endeavor began made him sick to his stomach and his heart rate picked up to the point the he needed to focus on thumbing his pant leg to control his breathing, he was determined to remain vigilant. And although that night's events were blurred with alcohol, he could still remember the look of disappointment on his brother's face, and the anger as he raised his hand in preparation to strike him like the little bitch that Sasuke knew he was being at the time.

Feeling the tightening in his chest at the thought of his past doings combined with the thoughts of the outcome that this long month of research would hopefully achieve, Sasuke took a deep breath and called up a memory of a few days prior. One that was both concerning and at the same time appealing.

He and Naruto were on their way out into town, feeling that finally leaving the sanctity of their room was required by society's standards. They had both thoroughly bathed until the smell of sex was completely washed from their bodies (Naruto had pouted, saying he liked Sasuke smelling like him, but Sasuke wrinkled his nose because there was no way he was going out in public looking and feeling like a slob).

Naruto was practically bouncing as they made their way down the hallway. Their previous excursions had been very brief while they had been playing the role of master and pet since Sasuke had never really liked Naruto being gawked at, choosing to drag him back to the castle after a few minutes of window shopping only at stores in the center of the city. Now, Naruto was going to have free reign and he was ecstatic.

Wanting to avoid any accidental (or intentional) meetings with his father, Sasuke decided to take a rout commonly used by the servants to make their way out of the castle. The hallway was crowded at that time of day, Jinchūriki rushing about with armfuls of linens and supplies. It really wasn't surprising that no one took notice of them as they strolled down the hall (well, Sasuke strolled. Naruto ran ahead, looped back, then ran ahead again and repeated the process like a retriever. It was amazing that he didn't run into anybody).

It was during one of Naruto's laps that Sasuke stopped paying attention to where he was going because he was too distracted by his idiot lover, and that's where it all seemed to go wrong. Sasuke smacked headlong into one of the servants.

It wouldn't have been that bad if their feet hadn't tangled together so they toppled to the ground in a heap. Sasuke's head hit the cold stone ground with an echoing crack, and his back and tailbone didn't fare any better. A small groan of discomfort left his lips and he blinked the stars out of his eyes before he noticed the presence of a warm body on his. When his eyes finally focused, they came into contact with startling blue inches away from his face.

Sasuke was seconds away from scolding Naruto for plowing him over (even though that would have been a feat in itself since it had been the man himself Sasuke had been watching bounding farther down the hall) when he noticed the vaguely familiar curtain of white hair falling around his and the person's face. Pale skin, accompanied by feminine features finished off the face once Sasuke drew his gaze away from her still unfocused eyes.

He could see a pained grimace on her lips, though he assumed that she couldn't be that hurt since he had taken the brunt of the fall. "Are you alright?" he asked anyway.

Blue eyes snapped to his and Sasuke could see horror streak across her features before quickly being replaced with an embarrassed blush once she realized who she had once again collided with. A jerky nod was her answer.

Taking a page out of Naruto's book, a small smile came to Sasuke lips. "We really need to stop meeting like this," he joked. It was really not like him, and it was a really stupid line truth be told, but Naruto had made it a point that Jinchūriki were like normal people and these particular Jinchūriki needed special care because their lives had been anything but pleasant. Sasuke didn't want to frighten the girl; he knew the terror of his father and didn't want to add to it, so if he had to act uncommonly friendly with one random girl then it wouldn't do any harm.

He probably surprised the albino tiger more than he meant to though, if the way her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish was anything to go by. Afterall, why would the son of the Regent remember accidently crashing into a random servant, let alone what that girl looked like? Sasuke wasn't a prince by any means, but his father was standing in for the king and was next in line should anything happen to King Obito, so he might as well be at this point. Besides, all of these poor Jinchūriki were brought in by Fugaku; he was their master- their king- now.

Sasuke, however had two reasons for remembering this particular girl. First, he had a pretty good memory for faces and this girl's unique pale tiger stripes accompanied with an eye color so similar to Naruto's was hard to forget. Second, even though their first collision had lead to Sasuke having a bruised tailbone and a horrible day, it ended with him walking side by side with Naruto after an enjoyable birthday party; the smile on Naruto's face as he drunkenly leaned against Sasuke was enough to make everything better. Sasuke remembered that day well.

"I-I'm really sorry Sasuke-sama," the tiger stammered, her face growing redder by the minute.

Sasuke shook his head and winced at the feel of a lump on the back of his skull. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't looking where I was going." He noticed the girl release a breath of air, her soft body relaxing into his. "What's your name?" he asked as he moved to get up, feeling her shift on top of him as she re-adjusted her limbs.

"Molly," she replied shyly.

Sasuke nodded, ignoring the press of the girl's supple breasts against his chest as he managed to get an elbow under him. "That's a nice n—," his sentence was cut off when Molly was suddenly yanked off of him.

She yelped in surprise, her feet nearly leaving the ground due to the force she was pulled with. Her cries of protest were cut short by the menacing growl that was coming from none other than Naruto, who was clenching her forearm with enough force leave indents.

Sasuke watched as his lover's lips pulled back in an animalistic snarl, his piercing blue eyes glaring with enough force to make the tiger in his grasp cower. Before Sasuke could question Naruto for his uncharacteristic aggressiveness, the blond pushed the girl away from him with an angry huff causing her to stumble for a moment before she scampered away getting lost in the crowd of servants still littering the hallway. Naruto's burning eyes were then on Sasuke, his hands reaching down to pull the Uchiha up off the ground.

Sasuke didn't have time to protest as Naruto suddenly turned and dragged him down the hall in a fast pace. Sasuke assumed Naruto was leading him out of the castle, but he was proven wrong when the Jinchūriki suddenly turned a corner down an empty hallway and slammed Sasuke up against the wall.

Sasuke's breath was knocked out of him twice, first from hitting the wall and then from Naruto slamming his body into him.

"Naruto," Sasuke grunted in indignation at the rough treatment, "What the hell?"

Naruto's breathing was ragged and hot where he panted into Sasuke's neck. Sasuke wasn't able to see his face, much to the Uchiha's frustration, so Sasuke raised his hands to clasp at Naruto's biceps to push him away. He felt Naruto's muscles bunch under his touch, the dark green sweater hiding none of the raw power that lay beneath it as Naruto's arm stayed caging him against the wall.

"Don't."

The order was quiet, not really a mumble, more like spoken through clenched teeth in an effort to hold himself back and Sasuke's hands slackened minutely in their grip. Something in Naruto's voice made him hesitate; told Sasuke that this wasn't the same beast that had taken over Naruto after their spar not so long ago. That had made Sasuke's blood run cold and panic set in with unwanted memories, but for some reason Sasuke didn't feel that way now, because behind this tightly controlled anger, Naruto sounded frustrated, desperate, and confused. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed in his own confusion and he let his hands drop to his sides. Whatever had gotten into Naruto, he trusted the blond to not do anything to hurt him. Sasuke wasn't afraid.

He guessed Naruto liked his submission, because with a small growl Naruto suddenly began to rub their bodies together. Naruto's nose moved along Sasuke's neck, inhaling deeply, and Sasuke was forced to tilt his head back to give the blond room.

"Stupid," Naruto mumbled before his teeth nipped at Sasuke's sensitive skin below his ear.

Sasuke frowned despite the mix of pain and pleasure being forced on his body and opened his mouth to respond. A small gasp left his lips instead as a blazing hot hand found its way under his shirt to caress his stomach with sure fingers. The other hand wove into his black locks to pull his head to the side to give Naruto access to the other side of his neck where the blond proceeded to lick the entire length of it. Sasuke's eye twitched, his only sign of pain, as Naruto's knuckles grazed against the lump on the back of his skull. He was surprised he didn't have a killer headache already.

"Whore," Naruto hissed this time, his fingers raking down Sasuke's abs to grip on the seam of his pants.

"Hey!" Sasuke snapped, stung. He knew he had been bad in the past, really bad, but he had just been talking to the girl. That was no reason for Naruto to get so angry with him, and what the hell was he doing if he thought Sasuke was 'whoring around' again?

His outburst went ignored as Naruto pulled back enough to run his nose along Sasuke's torso in a long swipe upward from his solar plexus to his collarbone. When Naruto finished, a scowl was on his face and he released a fast huff of air out of his nose, like he was trying to expel a particularly bad smell.

Sasuke didn't miss the way Naruto's eyes seemed to flash, almost looking feverish, as they once darted over his body in a frantic pattern. He wasn't given time to question his lover when Naruto suddenly grabbed the zipper of his dark blue hoodie, dragging it down to reveal his button up underneath. After another quick inhalation, a tsk escaped the obviously frustrated JInchūriki, and buttons were bouncing along the hallway floor as yet another one of Sasuke's shirts was ruined.

"Dammit Naruto," Sasuke all but whined in exasperation. How many shirts was that now? Was it really that hard to unbutton a shirt properly? He was beginning to feel bad for their inhouse seamstress, and buying new shirts every time Naruto decided to get a little rough was too much of a hassle. Still, Sasuke wasn't mad at the blond, just concerned about his current behaviour especially due to their present location. A glance to the side showed Sasuke the still very busy corridor not twenty feet away that they were visible from should anyone choose to turn and look.

Sasuke brought his gaze back to the fiery male in front of him in time to see Naruto look up at him from his slightly crouched position. The heated look on Naruto's face wasn't really a glare, but he was still slightly frowning and his eyes still had that strange gleam to them as his nostrils flared, clearly annoyed at having been reprimanded for his abuse to Sasuke's garment. As was his habit, Sasuke's eyebrow ticked upward in silent challenge. The other eyebrow joined it when Sasuke suddenly found teeth digging into the skin of his neck in a stinging bite.

The bite didn't last more than a few seconds and it didn't even break the skin, but it was enough to give Sasuke a jolt. It was painfully obvious, even as Naruto's tongue began to lap soothingly other the hurt as he once again rolled their bodies together, that the bite was meant to be a reprimand. Naruto was in no mood to listen to meager complaints about torn shirts.

A chill ran up Sasuke's spine when Naruto pulled back slightly allowing the castle's drafty air to sweep in between them and touch Sasuke's bare chest and stomach; he was glad that his hoodie was still on his shoulders or else his back would be freezing pressed up against the cold stone wall. Goosebumps rose along his pecs as Naruto dipped his head, resting his forehead on Sasuke's collarbone for a moment, allowing his warm breath to wash over Sasuke's chilled skin.

A deep growl that tapered off into a pathetic whine escaped Naruto's throat before he straightened up with a jerk and yanked off his own sweater and shirt in one go, dropped them carelessly on the floor, and pushed his blazing skin against Sasuke's again.

Sasuke found it increasingly difficult to focus as his lover once again assaulted his neck, his head automatically tipping back to accommodate the blond. Naruto's hands were traveling up and down Sasuke's spine, leaving trails of warmth mirrored by his torso pushing and grinding against his front.

Onyx eyes blinked blurrily as they traveled around the narrow hallway trying to focus on something to keep Sasuke grounded. He thought he might have heard the words "fucking" and " in heat" and a very possessive sounding "mine" growled against his throat in between stinging bites, but as his hazy gaze drifted from the ceiling, to the far wall, to the servants still wandering the perpendicular passageway, and then back again, he wasn't sure. He was too warm, too hot,-something that rarely happened to his seemingly cold-blooded body- and the pressure against his groin was too good.

All too suddenly Sasuke was yanked out of his fog when Naruto pulled himself away, taking his fiery touch with him. Sasuke turned to glare at the blue eyed moron, not sure if he was more upset that he had stopped or that he had started the whole thing to begin with. How dare that stupid dobe treat him so roughly and then just stop!

To Sasuke's great annoyance his glare was met with pursed lips and piercing blue eyes that weren't even looking at him. Instead they were focused, with a good amount of concentration, on Sasuke's abdomen. As if he wasn't confused enough at this point, Sasuke allowed his glare to lessen and frowned as he looked down at his stomach to try to figure out what the hell Naruto was so concerned about.

Same pale skin, same muscle definition, same navel, same narrow happy trail. The light pink scratch marks going down the center of his torso were new, but they were made by Naruto and most likely from just moments ago, so those were nothing to be concerned about. Yeah, there was nothing there, not even a freckle. So, what was getting Naruto so crazy?

Before Sasuke could ask, Naruto spoke. "No," he shook his head and looked up to meet Sasuke's surprised gaze, his look determined. "We have to have sex again." And with that he started unbuttoning his pants.

"What? No!" Sasuke didn't care if his eyes were uncharacteristically wide or if his voice came out higher than normal, because Naruto was stripping in the middle of the hallway in plain sight asking for sex. Now don't get Sasuke wrong, it wasn't like he was shy. He had made it a habit of getting caught in the act, by his own father no less. But this was different. This wasn't about proving a point or trying to make a fool out of his bastard of a father. This wasn't with some random tail that he just happened to make eye contact with in the courtroom or sleezy club. This was Naruto, and that fact alone made Sasuke's eyes once again dart to the busy hall- that seemed even closer than before-, because even though no one had openly stopped to gawk at their activities, a part of Sasuke didn't want to share what he had with Naruto with anyone else.

It was only when Sasuke's eyes shifted back to Naruto when he noticed the blond quickly moving towards him with his canines bared and his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. Sasuke's hands automatically came up to brace against Naruto's chest to stop his scolding bite, but he turned his head to further expose his neck so he wouldn't further anger his confusing lover.

Sasuke wasn't an idiot, it was clear that Naruto's animal instincts were taking over. Even with the silver collar hanging around Naruto's neck and the constant fear of Fugaku stealing him away from Sasuke, a part of Sasuke had forgotten that Naruto wasn't really human. Naruto looked human, but underneath those piercing blue eyes, tanned skin, and golden locks there was an animal with instincts waiting to emerge at any moment. The only problem was, Sasuke still didn't know what had set Naruto off. However, he wasn't stupid enough to poke the bear so to speak, and in really thinking about what he was dealing with he wasn't going to deny his lover what he needed if it was going to get Naruto back in his right mind.

So, relaxing his hands against Naruto's bare chest, Sasuke tilted his head a little to the side until he could make eye contact with Naruto and simply asked, "Why?"

The tension of Naruto's torso against Sasuke's palms stiffened for a second before releasing and with it the annoyance that Sasuke had seen on Naruto's face, his mouth slowly closing and his eyes softening as he pulled back slightly, keeping their half nude bodies pressed close. Sasuke had always found it amazing how expressive Naruto's face was, and now was no different as that confusion that Sasuke had heard in Naruto's voice now came to the surface in his cerulean orbs.

Sasuke watched as Naruto opened and closed his mouth a few times before he got impatient. Apparently the dobe was having trouble understanding his own natural instincts, what a moron. With a sigh, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled him a little further down the hallway, shoving him through doorway and into a dark room that may or may not have been a supply closet, it didn't really matter.

He was going to give Naruto the sex he wanted, enough to make the idiot finally get that limp he kept somehow avoiding. Just, not where others could watch.

Sasuke shook his head as he pulled himself out of his thoughts, not needing to get an erection this late at night, in the library no less. Needless to say, they hadn't ended up rejoining society that day, nor any of the following.

Neither Naruto or Sasuke had brought up what had happened that day, but they both knew something had changed. Though, Sasuke surmised, whatever that thing was it had really been there all along, growing stronger as the two males grew closer. Naruto's passion was fierce and a bit overwhelming at times, though Sasuke cherished every moment of it knowing that their time together was brief. Sasuke had always been a possessive person, though he had never really been one to show it towards his fleeting lovers. But he had felt the pull right away with Naruto and he could tell by the way Naruto looked at him, touched him, and held him, that the Jinchūriki was just as possessive, if not more so.

Naruto tended to show his Jinchūriki characteristics whenever he was really angry; his deep throated growls, baring of blunted teeth, and snarling were anything but human. But in looking through his memory, past his lust hazed mind that had been solely focused on the feel of Naruto's body and his own pleasure, Sasuke came to the conclusion that Naruto showed a lot more animalistic tendencies while they made love. Naruto had growled and bit and clawed and smelled him from that first night they had gotten together. It would stand to reason that Naruto would become protective of him around other Jinchūriki, because they belonged to each other- Sasuke was Naruto's.

"Mine."

A pleasant chill ran up Sasuke's spine at the thought of Naruto's deep possessiveness of him. His stomach warmed, knowing that he had such a strong being wanting to protect and love him, and his hand slowly crept towards his now half hard cock no longer caring where he was.

But then Sasuke did look around and his hand stilled where it lay on his thigh. The library. He was here for a reason, the same reason he was always here. Sasuke's brows furrowed as a look of determination settled on his face. Naruto may want to protect Sasuke, but Sasuke had to do the same.

Looking at the book still lying open in front of him, Sasuke deemed it useless and grabbed his phone off the desk. The white light from the screen made him squint, his eyes having adjusted to the dim yellow desk lamp hanging over his reading materials and the fire in the far corner that was barely giving off any light at all now.

He opened his text messages and found the name he needed, opening the little dialogue bar to begin typing. His fingers hovered over the buttons as his eyes took in the script above the bar, displaying all previously sent messages. *Unable to Deliver*, *Unable to Deliver*, *Unable to Deliver*... and so it went. There had to be over ten messages there.

Sasuke closed his messages and selected the 'call' button instead. He waited impatiently for the call to connect, his fingers drumming staccato on his thigh. He found his spine straightening in anticipation and his lungs expanding, his mouth opening to cut off any greeting, as soon as the tone dial clicked to connect the call.

"We're sorry, the Konoha Subscriber you are calling for-" a short pause as the annoyingly pleasant female voice switched over to a bored male voice, "Nara Shikamaru," another pause before the robot lady was back, "-cannot be reached at this time." Click. That was it. No, 'leave a message or call back later', just he couldn't be reached and 'click', bye, seeya.

Sasuke's hand clenched tightly around his phone until his knuckles whitened and the small device creaked ominously. It didn't sooth his nerves to know where his lazy friend had run off to. Temari had told him that Shika's father was taking the two of them to Uzushiogakure in Whirlpool Country for 'A family trip'. But of course that had been back when he had been in the middle of a panic attack, when he had been fucking abusing Naruto, and he had been all too happy to push the conversation away from himself and the blond sitting lifelessly on the floor (and happily taking a shower according to Temari) to think about the fact that the foreign trip would mean no contact with the duo until they returned.

Shika couldn't bring his cell phone out of Fire Country, let alone use it. The countries of the of the world had been at odds with each other for so long that they had become secretive and possessive with whatever technology they created. Fire Country's cell phones combined seals and technology to bounce signals from tower to tower throughout the land, though the device itself was expensive. Safety features were installed to prevent theft from foreign countries (Sasuke only knew this because they taught him in school), if the phone case is opened to look at its hardware then it will instantly corrode, and if it's taken over the borderlines, it will detonate. Severe. Border checkpoints made sure to ask if people had their phones on them so there were no accidental explosions. Who knew how far the world would have advanced by now if people just took their heads out of their asses and just shared their shit.

That was still no excuse for Shika to not pick up his damn phone! Nara Shikamaru was the smartest person Sasuke knew, so if he couldn't help him, no one could. But he wasn't picking up! With a low yell of rage Sasuke's arms swept across the expanse of the large desk sending the countless books and scrolls crashing to the floor. His palms slammed down onto the desk, the fingertips and first knuckles stinging madly on his left hand where he had smashed them between the hard wood and his phone. He noticed absently that he was now standing, but ignored that fact as he tried to figure out what to do next, his eye searching desperately around the room as though the answer had been there all along. Desk lamp on its side pointing toward the ceiling, books on the floor, books on the shelves, chess game setup between two lounge chairs in the corner, no fire, just smoldering embers. Nothing. He had nothing.

...

...

A loud popping, like the crack of thunder, tore through the humid air. It was immediately followed by a soft whoosh of wind as a man suddenly appeared in the middle of a well-worn dirt road. Clad only in a silky pair of pale grey pajama pants, the man stood uncaring that his toned chest stood on display for all to see. His lavender eyes narrowed as they gazed around, unable to find his target.

"DIEEEEEEEEEE!"

Neji's attention snapped towards the loud shout, his senses sharp and his muscles tense in preparation for an oncoming attack (because of course there would be an attack, why wouldn't there be?). He released a small sigh and brushed a stray lock of long brown hair out of his face as he took in the activity before him.

A group of children, five or six in total, were playing along the side of the road under one of the many awnings that lined the busy street. The strangely dressed children seemed to be having some sort of mock battle with toy kunai.

"No fair!" One child yelled in protest as he was pushed down by a girl a few inches shorter than him. "I'm Anbu, so I'm supposed to win!"

The girl crossed her arms and looked down at the boy with a pout on her lips. "But you always get to be Anbu," she complained. "It's not fair. Why do I always have to be the enemy because I'm smaller? I'm a better fighter than you are."

The boy's eyes widened in shock, "That's not true!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it i-"

"ENOUGH!"

Neji raised an eyebrow at the girl that had silenced the bickering pair. She looked to be about ten, with her black hair pulled into two low pigtails. She had her hands placed on her hips and a stern expression on her face. He had no idea what was going on. He didn't know what the hell an 'Anbu' was, but figured he'd watch this little scene play out a little longer. Hinata had told him that Naruto had created an elaborate and peaceful world, so he might as well observe it while he had the chance.

"Oh no, it's the Hokage!" A little boy cried from the sidelines, earning giggles from the other children. He snorted, "You two are in trouble now."

The 'Hokage' looked at the two arguing children, "What seems to be the problem?" More giggling were heard behind her and she tried to keep her serious expression.

"I want to be Anbu," the little girl who had 'defeated' the boy exclaimed confidently.

The 'Hokage' stroked her chin in contemplation as she looked at the shorter girl. "Hm… and what makes you think I would promote you?"

The little girl puffed out her flat chest, "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't fight! I'm actually pretty skilled. I've won almost every battle I've fought," she glanced down at the boy sitting on the ground who was glaring up at her with wounded pride, before returning her gaze back to the 'Hokage', "and I would rather use my skills to fight for the village instead of against it."

The 'Hokage' nodded her head, "It's decided. From now on Cho-chan is an official Anbu member!" She looked down at the stunned boy on the ground, "You have to be the enemy today Ruki-kun."

Ruki jumped to his feet, "That's not fair!"

The 'Hokage' glared at him, "Maybe this way you will become a better fighter by trying to get back your rank. I'm Hokage, so what I say goes. Got a problem with that?"

Ruki ground his teeth for a moment, but ended up sighing in resignation and shook his head.

"Good," the 'Hokage' nodded. "Now, someone get me some sake!"

The children all burst into laughter and ran off leaving Neji in a state of awe and confusion. Even though those children were a figment of Naruto's imagination, Neji was impressed with their problem solving skills. Whoever they were imitating seemed to be a good role model. Though the shout for sake at the end was a little strange…

Neji shook his head, pushing his thoughts of the playing children from his mind away in favor of once again looking for the missing fox. He was surprised that he hadn't seen Naruto when he had first arrived. That was really unusual. Normally, when a cosmic owl entered someone's dream they would appear right in front of said person, but for some reason Naruto was nowhere in sight.

Instead, Neji found himself standing on some sort of market street surrounded by a lot of strangely dressed people. Neji's eyes followed a group of men that wandered past him wearing matching green vests with black netting underneath, loose black pants that cut off mid calf to reveal legs that were wrapped in bandages, and finally odd sandals on their feet. He also noticed they they all had colored bands with shining silver plates with a fancified leaf emblem carved into the center tied somewhere on their bodies, as if they were all part of some club. Of course not everyone around him was dressed like these men, but everyone's style was similarly unusual.

Neji frowned, having no idea how he was going to find Naruto with so many people moving around the street. Of course he could alter Naruto's dream, but he didn't like doing that. It wasn't his place to mess with other people's dreams and Naruto's world was so elaborate that he really didn't want to interfere.

Sighing, Neji started walking down the dirt road. The first thing he noticed was the lack of a steady slope. Konoha was built on one large hill and since Neji had lived on it his entire life he took no notice of its sloping streets, but it was glaringly obvious that the ground he was walking on now was level. It was like walking through a long hallway, but outdoors, and it was somehow a little unnerving.

The next thing he took note of was the buildings. Unlike Konoha's white stone architecture, this Konoha was built more of wood painted in an array of colors. Multi-storied buildings of unique design were crammed next to each other, their shuttered windows painted in reds, blues, and greens lining the streets, while their round and rectangular windows on the stories above opened to allow a view of the busy market. What little structures that there were of stone had a layer of foliage over them as if they were in the process of being reclaimed by nature.

Trees stood between every few buildings, giving way to narrow alleyways, and pots sporting a variety of lush plants decorated the storefronts that held their wares. Bright signs hung haphazardly from poles sticking out of the side of those buildings or in the ground in front of them announcing the store's name or what it was selling or that it was having a sale. Similar writing was likewise scrawled above many of the doors, just under the steep slanting roofs.

It quickly became obvious to the owl that no one could see him, a vast contrast to the last time he had visited Naruto's mind, but he wasn't complaining. Neji wasn't sure how these obvious humans would react to seeing a half naked Jinchūriki casually strolling along their busy market street. 'Probably better than if it happened in real life,' he mused.

The urge to simply explore was strongー everyone looked happy and the array of goods the shops were displaying was amazingーbut Neji had to stay vigilant. He came here with a purpose. He had to findー

Neji had to do a double take when he had glanced through a window of a restaurant to catch the sight of a familiar face. He blinked and stared, not believing his eyes as the face was joined by two others.

"What the hell?" He questioned as he took a few steps closer to the window, sidestepping people on his way over. Yeah, he knew he looked like a crazy stalker, but he didn't care because it was too crazy, too creepy to be real (which it wasn't, but Neji's brain wasn't really working anymore), because right there in front of him dining in the barbeque restaurant were Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino (who looked human) and they looked to by around fifteen years old.

Neji watched as Choji hungrily shoveled steaming food into his face from the grill while Ino badgered him from across the table for taking her share, she then turned to the dozing Shikamaru to smack him upside the head, only to have Choji burst out laughing spraying food all over his companions and thus bringing Ino's wrath back upon him in a tackle narrowly missing the blazing center grill. Shikamaru went back to sleep.

Neji drew closer to the chaotic scene, not sure if he wanted to break up the fight or ask Shikamaru what the hell was going on.

"Come on! Naruto-oyobun is this way!"

The cosmic owl spun around so fast he nearly fell. Neji's lavender eyes frantically searched the street for the source of that voice before it came again.

"I heard he was at Training Field 3!"

Neji's gaze shot to his right, as a child ran past him. The little boy's long blue scarf waved behind him like a banner bearer leading troops to war. Just as Neji made to follow the child, another boy shot past his leg with a call of "Wait up Konohamaru!" followed by a little girl with red hair tied up in pigtails. When Neji was sure no more were coming, he took a step to follow only to have the little girl turn to grin up at him, her eyes meeting his for a brief moment, before continuing after her friends. His steps faltered for only a second, thrown off by the girl's gaze. Because for a moment there it seemed like she could actually see him, and that wasn't supposed to happen.

The brunet frowned in annoyance. He didn't like these mind tricks. When he finally saw Naruto, he was going to kill him.

When traveling in a dream distances tend to get skewed. What would normally take an hour to walk a few miles turns into seconds; unimportant scenery is simply skipped over and the destination is just there. Places may not be where they are supposed to be: furniture or rooms rearranged, a bedroom door opening to a school hallway, a park along a long road that isn't normally there.

However, Neji wasn't paying attention to any of these things. It didn't help that he had no idea what Naruto's Konoha was supposed to look like. He didn't know the wide expanse that this world the fox had created was so vast that he could spend countless hours exploring its many backstreets if he so chose to. Instead he chose to focus on his twelve year old cousin standing under a tree with an equally youthful Kiba standing in front of her red faced and holding out flowers.

He had to admit that Hinata looked pretty cute with a bob cut, but he had no idea how Naruto got her to look so young. Though she did have a young face, he mused. Now Kiba, on the other hand. He had never seen Kiba with human ears and he couldn't decide if he liked that look or not. Though the way they were turning as red as his face was funny.

Neji looked at the boy that was sitting on the ground on the opposite side of the tree, casually leaning against the thick trunk. He couldn't see boy's face since it was hidden behind his high collar and sunglasses, but Neji did notice his brunet hair held back by the same metal enhanced wrap that other various villagers wore around town; displaying the leaf emblem proudly on his forehead. Neji's eyes went back to his cousin to see a similar band tied loosely around her neck. Kiba's took a while to find, it was lost in his hood that had been pulled back when he had made his confession.

Now that he thought about it, he could remember the other three in the restaurant sporting the same bands and wondered what they meant. Laughter brought the owl out of his musing and Neji turned to see the three children he had been following getting too far away for his liking. With one more glance at his cousin and her young love, Neji continued his journey.

"Not too much longer!" the little redhead girl called to her friends, though Neji thought that it was just as much for his benefit as it was for theirs.

"Yeah!" Konohamaru called, "I hope he does the-" The rest of his sentence was lost as a sudden breeze blew across the dirt road they were following throwing up dust and leaves in its wake. Neji's long hair whipped around his head in waves, the band tied near the end hanging on for dear life and barely controlling the torrents of long locks cascading around his body.

Neji squinted into the wind, trying to regain some sort of composure, and was met with the sight of Temari. Neji didn't let the fact that the girl was in her human form surprise him, or the fact that she appeared to be in her mid teens; after all, that seemed to be a common thing here. What did surprise him was the way the she swung a giant fan as if it weighed nothing and the way the air picked up around it in a gust of wind to blow with surprising force.

The blond girl was standing on the far side of a large field that was surrounded by tall trees. Next to her was a boy whose face was obscured by red and white war paint and whose black cloak stuck up to look like cat ears (A fitting partner for Temari, Neji thought.). The sun gleamed off of the metal plate displaying the leaf symbol dangling around Temari's neck, much like it did Hinata's, and matched the one on her partner's forehead. The two teens were standing in fighting position and looking across the open expanse of the field at their opponent. Neji followed their gaze to see a short redhead with dark rings painted around his eyes staring boredly at Temari and her companion.

The breeze ruffled the short fiery locks, a rich color Neji had never seen before, so they revealed a crimson symbol- a shade brighter than his hair- taking up a good portion of the left side of his forehead, above the boy's eye. Neji focused on the unusual brushstrokes, trying to make out their meaning, but the wild hair kept obscuring his view and his dream ridden brain was having trouble depicting such a complicated character. Just as he was about to give up in frustration (or march over to the short boy and take his face in his hands to examine the symbol closer, because he was that curious) the red marking began to morph until it took on the shape of a heart.

Neji blinked. Then blinked again to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. But, no it was still there. The small, red headed boy who was staring rather boredly -and it could have been considered glaring if he were taller and hadn't looked so relaxed in his stance-, had a freaking heart tattooed on his forehead. What the hell was up with that? More importantly, who was he to Naruto? Neji hadn't missed the way people had been paired here, at least the people he'd recognized, and now he wondered why Temari wasn't with Shikamaru and who this boy with the heart was.

Suddenly the wind picked up again as Temari's fan fluttered through the air with a gust causing Neji to grab his hair before it sprung up again. Neji could literally see the path the wind took as it traveled across the grassy field and he almost called out in surprise when he noticed that there were bodies being carried along in the heavy surge. Only his sharp bird eyes focusing on one of the forms speeding through the air allowed Neji to catch the wood grains on the face, making Neji realizing that the bodies were puppets and not humans—their smiling teeth chattering and their wide round eyes rolling in their heads.

The faint shimmer of blue caught Neji's eye and he focused on it. Barely noticeable behind each puppet, phasing in and out of sight was a very thin thread that glistened. With some difficulty, Neji followed the strings back to their master to see the boy next to Temari with his hands extended, the shining strings that controlled the puppets coming from his fingers, and a look of concentration on his face.

Neji looked back to the three puppets that wore nothing more than tattered brown rags as they propelled toward the red haired youth, seeming to ride that wind with ease. When they were within ten feet of the still immobile redhead, one of the puppets suddenly reared back revealing a set of four arms each wielding a piercingly sharp blade.

As the four armed puppet sped forward on Temari's wind, the other two flanked it gaining speed to circle their opponent. Just when Neji thought the lone boy was done for, a wall of sand swirled up around him in a sudden tornado, throwing the two puppets approaching from the side away and stopping the four armed one in mid swing.

With a flick of the puppet master's fingers, the two prone dolls were up again and speeding towards their target with an extra boost given by a wave of Temari's fan. This time the two puppets were met with a shield of sand that appeared as if from thin air wherever they tried to land a blow, the fine mineral continuously forming and reforming wherever needed seemingly without the red-headed youth's guidance or attention to his attackers. The short boy stood there looking ever bored while the puppet in front finally managed to pull its arms free of the sand holding it prisoner only to plunge its blades back in, in an attempt to get at the young redhead. He didn't even flinch.

The three purple faced moons adorning Temari's fan blurred with the force of the blonde's swing and suddenly a tornado of wind surrounded her opponent, taking the puppets with it in a deadly whirlwind of destruction. A triumphant smile played across her lips as the boy began to lift into the air, the force the attack too strong to keep his small frame grounded, but it was wiped clean when her wind became completely obscured by sand, funneling around and around until it hid and protected the redhead completely.

Changing tactics Temari's giant fan swung with seemingly reckless abandon, slicing blades of wind through the air until they hit the wall of sand that came up to block it, and left deep gouges in its wake. Her partner likewise unleashed his puppets to attack the boy from behind, hoping to find some sort of opening, but a dome had been formed and neither was having any luck.

Just as it seemed like the dome of sand would never break, it suddenly shifted. Taking with it the puppets, seeping into their joints and stilling their movements, the sand became a giant wave that washed across the field towards Temari and her partner, carrying with it the helpless puppets —flotsam—, now weapons turned against their master. The wave would not stop, no matter how much wind battered against it from Temari's panicked strokes, it just seemed to shifted around it and reform, powering down on its victims.

"Alright, that's enough."

The voice was calm, but commanding enough to make to sand stop before it hit the two teens. To Neji's amazement the puppets dropped to the ground and the sand began to recede, sinking onto the ground or floating in a narrow stream that funneled into the heart of the wave. The redhead stepped out of the sand, a large gourd on his back taking in the stream of sand as it quickly dispersed.

Neji looked to find the person who had stopped the fight. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed none other than Uchiha Itachi leaning against a far tree. He noticed that the man- a boy really, Itachi couldn't have been more than sixteen years old- was wearing a green vest like some other villagers had worn and once again wondered what it meant. Neji noticed that his list of questions for Naruto just kept growing.

Itachi looked pleased as he looked at the three younger teens, a small smile was gracing his lips. It wasn't an unusual expression for Neji to see, he had known the man for a number of years and Itachi would usually smile when he was around Sasuke. What was not normal about him, what really put Neji off, was his red eyes. Neji was pretty sure the Uchiha didn't have red eyes.

"Well done," Itachi said, "You're all improving nicely."

"Of course they are," a voice came from the branches above him, "They're our students aren't they?"

Itachi just rolled his eyes, but the smile didn't leave his lips.

Neji looked at the man in the branches. He didn't recognize him. The brunet looked to be around the same age as this Itachi and had short black hair that was a little wild where it stuck up above his forehead band. If his fair skin and dark hair didn't scream Uchiha, then his bone structure did, it was just as aristocratic as Sasuke and Itachi's. His eyes were somehow kinder though, creased slightly along his nose from smiling too much, even though they were the same eerie red hugh as Itachi's.

Neji watched as the man lazily let his leg drop from its reclined position on the branch to playfully kick Itachi in the shoulder only to have the offending appendage swatted away.

"Take a break, then switch partners," Itachi called to his students.

The two teachers and the cosmic owl watched as Temari and her partner suddenly glomped the redheaded boy in a smothering hug, their excitement carrying across the field as Neji turned to continue his journey.

Neji wasn't going to lie about the fact that he was a little nervous. Getting led through an unknown forest by some mystery kids, only one of whom may or may not have been able to see him, left him thinking that he was being led to his doom. For all he knew he was being led to a shack in the middle of the woods where a serial killer tortured his victims and painted with their blood all over the basement walls or something and these innocent looking kids (whose giggles were echoing around the woods!) were his minions.

Ok, so maybe the cosmic owl was overreacting. He knew that this was Naruto's dream and had already been informed that these three children were leading him to said blond, but he remembered his last little adventure in Naruto's dream land and he wasn't in any rush to repeat that experience. Everything had been relatively mild so far, but that wasn't to say that when he found Naruto the blond wouldn't be fighting a giant three headed dog or some crap.

That being said, Neji released a relieved breath of air when he emerged from the forest to find himself at the edge of a clearing with a river running through the center. All was silent except for the gentle rushing of the river, Neji didn't notice that his three guides had vanished. His lavender eyes took in the large black stone structure just to his left, a shining gnomon casting its shadow on the red bricks forming its circular base. Just beyond that were three wooden stumps jutting out of the ground, their purpose lost on the owl.

The light tinkling of bells brought Neji's attention to the water's edge where a man was standing casually reading a book. Neji couldn't tell who the man was due to the mask covering the bottom half of his face, but he was pretty sure he hadn't met anyone with hair that silver before.

Not seeing any sign of the blond fox he had been searching for, Neji took a step out of the tree line towards the silver haired man. There seemed to be no one else in the vicinity, so maybe this man would finally lead him to Naruto.

Before Neji could take another step however, the water of the river stirred and suddenly shuriken broke the surface to launch at the unsuspecting man.

"Holy shit!" Neji flinched, automatically ducking for cover from his safe vantage point.

The masked man was dead. He had just been standing there reading and minding his own business and now he was dead and Neji was leaving because Naruto had jacked up dreams and that man was dead!

Neji blinked as two of the three shuriken spun harmlessly on the man's fingers, the third lost somewhere behind him. He hadn't even looked up from his book. But then the water was stirring again and exploded with a spray of orange and yellow as not one but seven Naruto's launched out of the water with a yell of triumph only to swarm the silver haired man. Neji watched how the man looked unperturbed until an eighth Naruto grabbed him from behind after somehow changing from that third forgotten shuriken with a puff of white smoke.

….

Naruto and his teammates had failed miserably.

It was child's play for the silver haired man, though in all honesty he was fighting children so Neji couldn't give him too much praise. There had been times when the cosmic owl thought the kids would be successful in getting those bells —Naruto's never give up spirit and Sasuke's cunning were impressive— but in the end there was no chance.

Neji found it amusing that for a person who supposedly had control over his dreams, Naruto would chose to lose a battle. In fact, right now the blond was tied to the center log as the ultimate loser amongst his teammates. However, those teammates were feeding him from their own lunches and Naruto was smiling brightly because of it.

It wasn't long after Naruto's teacher and two companions finally left that Neji finally decided to make his appearance. He knew that he didn't need to wait that long, but for some reason he felt like that moment in Naruto's dream was something important, like a touching moment in a movie that you couldn't pause and come back to later because it would be ruined.

His approach was silent, not wanting to disturb the quiet that had taken over the scene. Naruto was still tied to the log, sitting with his legs comfortably crossed and his head resting against the smooth weathered grains of the wood, his eyes closed in contentment. He held a kunai loosely in his hand for when he was ready to escape his bonds.

It took a moment for Naruto to open his eyes once Neji finally came to a halt in front of him, but when he did his face paled slightly before he blinked and the look that Neji couldn't quite catch was replaced with a beaming smile.

"Neji!" Naruto exclaimed happily, getting up from his sitting position.

Neji watched as the ropes dropped losely to Naruto's feet, having not been touched by the weapon in his hand, before he looked back up to the man who was no longer the child that had been sitting in front of him a second before. He took in the slightly altered clothing, still orange, and decided to not question Naruto about his choice in clothing or age change. He would prefer to talk to this older version anyway. That younger one seemed...loud. "Naruto," he nodded his head in greeting, "That was quite the show you put on."

"Oh, hehe," Naruto laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment, "That was...we weren't very...and my dad...I kinda…"

Naruto's voice was getting quieter and quieter and Neji raised an eyebrow, reminded of the way his cousin starts stuttering when she gets really flustered.

Naruto noticed the look and his face bloomed hot before clearing his throat, "Um, thanks." He mentally scolded himself for acting like a blushing school girl, but he wasn't used to sharing his dreams with others. Sure he told people about them, wrote stories, drew pictures; but having someone actually come into his head and see what he was actually dreaming of was a whole other matter. The last time Neji had come had been different, that had been a normal dream (what would have been a nightmare really) that Naruto had adapted to, made it his own so the two of them could have a little fun while they talked. But this, this was Naruto's world; a world that he had been cultivating since childhood by merging reality with fantasy and suddenly having someone see it, see him and the role he played in it made him embarrassed.

Naruto's eyes darted around the clearing before landing back on the brunet. He hadn't expected to see Neji so soon… How long had the Hyuuga been gone? That thought quickly replaced Naruto's embarrassment with trepidation. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Naruto reinforced his waning smile.

"Neji," he said again, "You look...rested."

Neji looked down at his bare feet, pajama pants, and naked torso and snorted in amusement. "Yes, well one never knows what to expect when visiting your head. Lumberjacks don't exactly fit into this world," he smirked, remembering the jeans and plaid shirt from last time.

Naruto grinned, "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. But I can give you something to fit in here if you want."

Neji waved him off, "No thanks. Green's not really my color."

"Oh hoho!" Naruto crowd, "So you think you're good enough to be a Jounin?!"

"A what now?" Neji asked in confusion.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto shook his head, a small genuine smile gracing his lips. "I'm sure you just enjoy prancing around town practically naked," he teased. The look of utter indignation on Neji's face made Naruto burst into a laughing fit, one that the owl soon join in his own much more dignified chuckles.

Once under control, the two males made themselves comfortable on the ground leaning against two of the wooden logs protruding from the earth. Naruto felt much more comfortable now that he had unwinded. He really didn't want to feel anxious around Neji; after all, the cosmic owl hadn't done anything wrong. Naruto had wrongfully associated his time with Sasuke with Neji's return, so the real question now was, where was Neji?

"So," Naruto began, his stomach tightening in anticipation, "How was your trip? Did you just get back?"

Neji shook his head, "Actually I'm not home yet," he noticed the way Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and the way the fox shifted anxiously in his seat. A bubble of dread filled Neji, hoping that he hadn't taken too long in returning to get in touch with Naruto's family. "Hanabi and I ran into trouble on our way back and we had to lay low for a while, but we should be back in two weeks at the latest," he tried to reassure the blond.

"What kind of trouble?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. It's true that he felt a flood of relief knowing that Neji hadn't returned yet (even if that relief was laced with guilt), but his concern for his friend's safety heavily outweighed his own selfish desires. Neji was a Jinchūriki, a strong one at that, so for him to have been hindered by something it must have been a pretty big deal. Naruto's guilt grew exponentially in realizing he had been worrying more about his own problems, secretly wishing his friend, the one person he had been relying on would stay away for as long as possible, instead of focusing on his safety. There were obviously a lot more dangers out there in the world than Naruto knew about. His own captivity proved that.

"We were attacked," Neji admitted, "We had just crossed the border into Fire Country when they hit."

"Bandits?" Naruto asked.

Neji shook his head grimly, "No, soldier. At least, they claimed to be soldiers. They were more like ruffians and thugs. They wanted our horses and valuable, so they were pretty much bandits. Anyway, once I got my hands on one of them, I found out that they were on their way north."

"Wait," Naruto paused Neji in confusion, "So, these men weren't Fire Country soldiers, or even wannabe soldiers?"

"Apparently not," Neji confirmed, "They said they were heading north to join "The Cause" up in Sound."

"Sound," Naruto mumbled. He knew that name. He'd heard it before.

"Anyway," Neji continued, "They kept talking about "The Cause", but I'm not really sure they knew what it actually was because I couldn't get more information out of them. Hanabi and I got away from them with a little persuasion and were able to continue on our way, but as it turned out, they weren't the only ones heading north." At Naruto's raised eyebrow, Neji continued, "There came a time when we had to hide in the trees for a few days because there were so many of those 'soldiers'. We must have seen up to a hundred in the past week." Naruto's eyes widened at this news. "They only traveled in groups of three or four, but they were pretty easy to identify."

"Why is that?" Naruto asked.

Neji frowned, his taloned hands clenching around his forearms, "Because they were Jinchūriki."

A small gasped left Naruto's mouth. To hear that Jinchūriki were freely attacking people (their own kind or human) was unheard of. Even if those men had been desperate they shouldn't have been attacked Neji and his cousin no matter the fact that they appeared human. Naruto knew he was ignorant about the world in general, but that was the world of humans, not the world of Jinchūriki. His knew how his own kind felt and acted. However, it wasn't like he was not going to believe Neji's story. Whatever was leading his kin to act so aggressively must be something big and whatever that was was obviously collecting in this 'Sound'.

"Anyway," Neji cleared his throat, breaking Naruto out of his troubling thoughts, "I've actually been trying to reach you for days. I can only be a certain distance away to access a person's dreamscape and it looks like I'm finally close enough." He gave Naruto a reassuring smile.

Naruto blinked as realization hit him, "You're, you're two weeks away by horseback and we're able to communicate face to face?! Neji, that's amazing! You're amazing!"

Neji couldn't help the flush that washed over his cheeks from the praise, and he hoped that the shiny scales that ran along his cheekbones were thick enough to cover his embarrassment. "If only my powers were stronger. Has your time with the Uchiha's been too terrible?"

The smile on Naruto's face froze before it slowly faded. He looked away, somewhere in the direction of the river, and scratched the back of his head as he contemplated how to answer. When was the last time he had talked to Neji? What had been happening? Had that really been before his first kiss with Sasuke? Before Sasuke decided to make Naruto an actual 'pet' to the point where Naruto was utterly depressed because he realized he had become so obsessed with the Uchiha and yet he would never have him? Was it really before he had finally kissed Sasuke back? Was it before Naruto's love obsession grew dangerously strong to the point that he didn't want to let go? He didn't know, and he didn't know how to answer.

"It's…I'm ok right now," Naruto finally said. "Sasuke's been treating me well." That was all he could say. He couldn't tell Neji that he and the raven had started sleeping together, that the thought of Sasuke away from him made a ball of anxiety well up in his stomach while at the same time anger the which he had never known before raged within his gut. He felt like he was somehow betraying Neji's trust, like he had sent him on an important quest to eventually save him and now he doesn't really want to be saved. Naruto knew what needed to be done once Neji returned, he couldn't betray his family, his friends, or his people, but he didn't need to let the cosmic owl know what he was giving up in the process. Naruto had no idea how he would get free eventually, but he knew the time would come. Just, not now.

"That's good," Neji said, relieved.

Naruto nodded, relieved that the topic seemed to be dropped for the moment. "So, tell me about Iwa. I've never been to Earth Country."

"It was actually very interesting. Where Konoha is built on a large hill, Iwa is in a valley surrounded by jagged mountains on nearly all sides. Like Konoha, its buildings are made out of stone, except instead of the white stone we have, theirs is granite from the surrounding mountains. All the buildings were built close together and were very tall, so it was hard to remember that I was in a city and not lost in the mountains sometimes." He smiled at Naruto's look of awe.

"Though the colors did get a little drab sometimes, the people were generally nice," Neji continued. He then leaned forward, his pale eyes lighting up enough to make Naruto lean forward as well, "There was one thing there that I will never forget."

"What?" Naruto asked, his voice hushed as if what Neji had to say was too sacred to spoken loudly.

"They had a-" Neji paused and Naruto leaned forward more to listen. Neji's mouth moved and no sound came out. Naruto frowned and leaned forward more. Suddenly he overbalanced and fell face first into Neji's lap. "Ah!" Neji cried out in pain and fell over sideways when Naruto's chin crashed into his balls. He closed his legs, only to realize that there was a blond head between them and quickly shoved Naruto's head out of the way.

Naruto scrambled back into sitting position, his hair a mess and his ears burning brightly. "I'm sorry!" he yelled, his hands hovering over the cosmic owl's prone form. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes it hurts," Neji half heartedly glared at the blond through his curtain of hair.

Naruto smiled a little. "Sorry," he said again. Honestly he was, but at the same time it was a little funny. "Does it really hurt? I mean, we're in a dream so…"

Neji looked at Naruto, then looked down to where he was protecting his family jewels from further attack, then back to Naruto, then narrowed his eyes, and then he sat up, cleared his hair out of his face as if nothing happen and cleared his throat. "It was a natural reaction. Like having to pee or feeling other pain in dreams."

"Uh huh," Naruto agreed with a smile, glad that he hadn't actually hurt his friend. "So what were you saying?"

Neji sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Naruto wondered how the owl didn't get his talons stuck, or at the very least get split ends. "Do you remember the last time we talked, I told you about the borders around Konoha that restrict access to the Jinchūriki?"

"Like the markers that activate if the-" Naruto's eyes widened as his mouth froze. He licked his lips and tried to say the word 'pet' again. He looked at Neji in horror when the word just wouldn't come. To his surprise the brunet just nodded his head for him to continue as if he wasn't have a mild panic attack. Naruto swallowed, unnerved, "Um, tries to cross it? Why can't I say it?!"

"I'm getting to that," Neji said calmly. "And yeah, sort of. But I'm talking about the ones that prevent people, not just those particular Jinchūriki from talking about the practice past a certain border," Neji clarified.

Naruto nodded. That was one of the reasons why Neji couldn't leave a note for his fathers. Not only was it dangerous, for both Neji and Naruto's dads, but Neji wouldn't have been able to leave the right kind of information to put their minds at rest. Past a certain border within Konoha everyone was somehow sealed to the point that they could neither talk about nor write about the Jinchūriki being used as 'pets'. All documentation, including digital, was automatically destroyed once it crossed the border. You go into the city and you're unsealed, you leave and you're resealed automatically.

"Wait, wait, wait," Naruto waved his hands in front of his face. "That's why? Because you're not within the border?" Neji shrugged. "But, but I am! And we're dreaming! This is like a different plain of existence! How is that even possible?"

"I don't know," Neji said, keeping his voice as calm as he could seeing as Naruto was obviously starting to freak out. "Look, this is how it's been for years. My family has never been able to break past the barrier which means the seals are incredibly powerful, and as far as I know no one knows where they are. Obviously if they did then someone would have taken care of them by now."

"Ok," Naruto nodded absently, taking in this new information as well. It seemed to be getting worse and worse. "So, why did you bring this up?"

"Oh," Neji said, as if remember the whole point of their conversation, "Iwa has the same type of thing."

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled.

"Not for the same reason!" Neji rushed to clarify causing Naruto to glare at him. "Look, they have something that they want to keep secret, and have seals to make sure no one tells. I just… Really want to share it with you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "You want to share foreign countries' secrets? Neji, are you a spy?"

Neji shot a glare over to the blond. "No. I just think that keeping secrets of this magnitude is stupid." At Naruto's questioning look he continued. "You know how we have cell phones? Don't you think the world would benefit if everyone had that technology? Communication throughout the world in seconds instead of weeks through written script. Fire Country is being selfish keeping that."

"Earth has something like that?" Naruto asked, intrigued.

Neji nodded and stood up. "It's going to be hard to explain since I can't use the right words and I can't really picture it clearly. It's like a film was put over my memory of it." Neji took a moment to get his words together. "Ok, in Konoha we travel by horseback and carriage."

"Psh, you may," Naruto interrupted the owl before he could continue.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Fine. The people who can afford it travel by horse and carriage for recreational purposes, while farmers and such use horses and wagons for loading cargo and whatnot. Point being, carriages. In Iwa there were these two brothers, two Jinchūriki in fact, that created a mode of transport that not only goes on the ground, but can go vertical straight up the face up the mountain side. It's fast and holds a lot of people and it's generally safe."

"Jinchūriki made it?" Naruto asked, impressed.

Neji nodded, "An eel and a bull-octopus." At Naruto's widening eyes Neji continued, "I know what you're thinking. The bull isn't pure, but he was the closest I've ever felt since, well since you. That bloodline definitely is the dominant one in him. He may be the closest you'll ever get to meeting someone like you."

Naruto nodded his head, feeling a tinge of disappointment. "So what does this thing they made look like?" He asked instead of pursuing about the bull-octopus.

"Like a giant snake," Neji said.

Naruto looked at him blankly. Neji shrugged before looking across the river where a giant black snake suddenly appeared and reared its head to stand a good four stories tall. It hissed menacingly.

Neji gave a small smile. "Not quite. It was laying flat. Yeah, like that. And people would sit inside of it."

Naruto frowned and walked over to the serpent, looking inside it's gaping mouth. "That's gross."

"No," Neji said, exasperated. "It wasn't actually a snake. It was like hollow, but with seats."

"But it's pitch black in there," Naruto complained.

"Windows," Neji sighed as if he was talking to a three year old. Though honestly this thing was looking better than he expected.

"So this this just like slithered- moved-" Naruto corrected when Neji shot him a look, "all around Iwa taking people wherever they wanted?"

"Pretty much," Neji nodded. "I know it's missing stuff, I just can't quite see it."

"Huh," Naruto hummed, nodding, "It's still pretty neat though."

"Whatcha doing dobe?"

Surprised, Naruto and Neji's gazes whipped in the direction of the voice that had just interrupted their private conversation. There, lying on top of the giant contraption that Neji and Naruto had built, was Uchiha Sasuke.

Neji took in the casual way the Uchiha laid, on his side, with one leg bent comfortably and his head propped up on his hand, like he didn't have a care in the world. Next he took in the man's clothes, a off-white high collared haori that hung open around his torso and navy blue pants ended mid-calf to be replaced by black wrappings that matched the wrappings on his forearms. The last thing Neji realized was his eyes, Sasuke had the same eyes as Itachi's, red eyes.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, startling both brunettes, "Get off my goddamn snake teme!"

Sasuke smirked, then suddenly he was gone.

"So, what's birdboy doing here?" Sasuke asked, from his position behind Naruto as he wrapped his arms around him and eyed Neji. Naruto stiffened and Sasuke froze.

Neji watched as Naruto stepped out of Sasuke's embrace. Sasuke was literally frozen in place, as if the entire world froze. In fact, Neji looked around to see that the river was still and the birds in the sky were no longer moving, before looking back to Sasuke, whose eyes were no longer red. He looked over at Naruto who was staring owlishly at him with a light blush on his face. "Something you want to tell me?"

"Um," Naruto floundered, "dream Sasuke dresses like a gay samurai?"

...

...

Naruto came awake with a very manly snort as the bed shifted next to him and the covers were yanked out from under his sprawled body. One eye blinked lazily, taking in the silhouette of his lover (barely visible in the low burning embers of the fireplace) leaning on the mattress next to him, before drifting closed. "You okay?" His voice came out slurred, already drifting back to sleep.

Sasuke allowed his tense muscles to relax and quickly kicked his discarded clothes away with the foot still dangling off his bed before easing himself down next to Naruto. "Yeah," he mumbled, "bathroom." He was rewarded by Naruto's low hum of acknowledgment before he was suddenly yanked backward by a strong arm wrapped around his torso until his back slammed into Naruto's chest so hard it knocked the air out of him. A tan leg was then thrown over his pale ones affectively spooning and trapping Sasuke in Naruto's warmth.

"Nnn, cold," Naruto complained into Sasuke's hair, his nose pushing through the silky locks to nuzzle the sensitive flesh of Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke sighed and shifted as best he could until he was more comfortable, ignoring Naruto's light grinding of his flaccid cock against his naked backside. He could already hear barely audible snores escaping the blond as Sasuke finally let himself relax completely into his hold.

His onyx eyes stared into the darkness of his room for a few minutes before Sasuke's gaze finally drifted to his alarm clock, its digital face glowing dully in the late night hour. 3:37am. 'Hmm,' Sasuke frowned and closed his eyes, knowing there weren't too many more hours until he needed to get up to start working.

No matter. His mind was already drifting off to sleep anyway. Sasuke let out a content sigh as the arm around his chest tightened and he curled his own body closer into the comforting heat against his back.

Here he was safe, content, unafraid. And even though he knew what he needed to do would hurt him, he wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted. The only problem was that what he wanted, what he needed, was the key. And that was the one thing Sasuke was to afraid to get.

A.N. Fun fact- "Molly" is what a female domestic cat is called once it's been neutered! I just thought that would be funny. However, the Molly in this story (whom we first saw in chapter 13) is neither neutered nor a normal cat.

Note- I also thought it was very important to note for those of you who didn't catch it (my beta didn't) that Naruto was not calling Sasuke the "whore". There are keywords in that scene to explain his behavior.

The first one that can tell me who Itachi's teaching partner was will get a shoutout cookie! I thought it was obvious, but you never know. Anywho, hope everyone liked it!

Next Chapter- Things get physical and questions are answered. Until next time!