A.N.-Hello again! Chapter 7 is finally here! Lot's of info in this chapter, so hopefully it makes sense. Let me know if anyone is confused. So just as a heads up, I know that people usually italicize dream scenes, but I will not be doing that. Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter! Everyone seemed to like Naruto easily owning Kiba, lol. I really wish I could respond to the guest reviews…

On a side note, to go with the chapter title, does anyone else have dreams with anime characters in them or is it just me? Last night I dreamt that I went to high school with Gaara. I've also had dreams with Itachi, Inuyasha (who was very wet and naked so I was super sad when I woke up), and the entire cast of Slayers (that whole dream was in Chinese, even though I don't speak a word of the language). Can anyone else relate to the anime dreams? Just curious. :P

Please R&R and enjoy!

That Time I Went Down Fighting

7. The Dream

"Remember what I told you," Sasuke warned Naruto as he gave him a meaningful look over his shoulder.

Naruto rolled his eyes in annoyance and looked away from the raven to scowl at the wall. He shoved his hands into his pockets the best that he could with the little room the tight pants provided. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Teme."

"What was that?" Sasuke turned to fully face the blond, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow expectantly.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched and tried to ignore the other boy. After a few moments of awkward silence, Naruto huffed, "There's no one here!" he whined.

"I need to make sure you know how to say it," Sasuke stated a little too smugly for Naruto's liking. "You made me miss my appointment with the head of the Hyuuga clan with your careless behavior. He's a very busy man and won't be free again for at least another month. Now say it."

Naruto growled and glared at the raven. Seeing no change in Sasuke's expectant stance, Naruto sighed, decided to give in and swallowed his pride. He just wanted to get this over with. "Whatever you say…Master," he grit out through clenched teeth.

Sasuke nodded in satisfaction and turned back to the door he was standing in front of. His lip twitched as he tried to refrain from smirking. The amused feeling left him as soon as he remembered what was behind the door in front of him. He hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open. He just wanted to get this over with. Swinging the heavy wooden door open Sasuke silently stepped into the dining room, rolling his eyes when the sound of Naruto's bare feet slapped loudly against the stone floor as he stomped in behind him.

Sasuke sighed when he noticed that his father and brother had yet to arrive. He made his way over to the large wooden table that took up the majority of the room and sat down in the chair to the left of the head of the table.

Naruto began to pull out a chair next to the young Uchiha when Sasuke's hand shot out to grab the back of the chair.

"Pet's don't eat at the table," Sasuke informed the fox, as he glared at the place settings in front of him.

Naruto huffed in indignation. "I'm not your pet," he spit out in disgust, "Stop treating me like some wild beast."

Sasuke finally turned to the angry blond. He was drawn between telling the blond that he was as wild beast, and informing Naruto that he would rather be in the blond's position so he wouldn't have to sit at the table either. Instead he said, "Just go stand in the corner and don't say anything unless spoken to." He paused for a moment and then raised an eyebrow, "Do you think you can handle that? I know how hard it is for you to shut up."

Naruto shot the human an irritated glare and stomped off into the corner of the large room to lean against the wall.

Only a few minutes passed before the door opened again to allow Fugaku and Itachi into the room. Naruto suppressed a growl as he watched the two older humans move to the table. Neither man paid any attention to the blond's presence.

Fugaku sat at the head of the table facing the main doors (the spot usually reserved for the king, Naruto noted), while Itachi sat to his right, across from Sasuke.

Itachi greeted his brother and asked him about his day, to which Sasuke replied with a shrug saying it was unproductive. Naruto quietly snorted as he remembered all the excitement that the day had entailed; he absently rubbed at his neck where Sasuke's forearm had dug his collar into his soft skin. Then there was the fact that once they had returned from the Hyuuga manor, Sasuke had spent the hours leading up to dinner doing paperwork like he usually did. Fugaku made a comment about Sasuke needing to manage his time better since he obviously slacked off too much. Naruto's eyebrow twitched in irritation, thinking about all the time he had spent sitting on his ass, bored out of his mind because the youngest Uchiha was too busy working to pay him any attention. 'Fucking asshole,' Naruto thought as he stared at the oldest Uchiha. Fugaku made no mention of the incident at the Hyuuga estate, so it looked like it hadn't been brought to the Hyuuga head's attention and thus Fugaku's. Naruto sighed in relief.

A few minutes of quiet conversation passed as Itachi relayed the plans for his trip to his younger brother. Their discussion was interrupted when a narrow door hidden in the side of the room silently slid open. A small group of Jinchūriki, clothed in matching tan tunics, stepped into the room laden with trays of steaming food.

Naruto watched as the servants moved swiftly and silently, placing the platters of food on the table before serving each Uchiha generous amounts of shredded beef, steamed vegetables, brown and white rolls of warm bread with thick gray gravy for dipping, and some kind of red fruit gelatin.

After all the food was served, a young girl with long rabbit ears slightly drooping on top of her head of cream colored hair moved around the table to fill their glasses with ice water from a jug. Once done, she placed the jug on the table along with a dark bottle of wine. She turned and hurriedly rushed towards the door, glancing at Naruto on her way. Her bright pink eyes curiously met his blue for a second before she was gone, the door closing quietly behind her.

The sounds of cutlery clinking filled the large room as the Uchihas began their meal. Casual conversation soon started up again as Itachi asked his brother about his plans for the weekend.

Naruto's mind wandered as the conversation at the table drifted to economics and various political treaties between Fire Country and its neighbors. He tried to ignore the smell of the delicious looking food. He hadn't eaten since breakfast (thanks to Sasuke being a grouchy bastard) and his stomach was starting to cramp with hunger. He gently rubbed it, willing it to refrain from growling, as his gaze strayed back to the small door the other 'pets' had exited through. He wondered if that door led to the kitchen and if said kitchen had any ramen.

His stomach gave a little rumble at the thought of his favorite meal. He shuddered when he realized he hadn't had the food of the gods in over a week. Maybe he would try to suck up to the bastard to get the raven to get him some ramen. After all, the Uchiha was more likely to grant him his request of food verses his request of freedom. Right?

The blond was pulled out of his thoughts by a harsh command thrown in his direction.

"You, Beast, more wine," Fugaku commanded, glaring at Naruto.

Naruto scowled and opened his mouth to tell the older man just where he could shove that wine bottle. His mouth snapped shut when Sasuke turned towards him with a glare that demanded him to remember his promise about his manners.

"Now, Dobe," the raven commanded.

Naruto quietly growled and pushed himself away from the wall to lazily walk towards the table. If the humans were going to be such assholes, than he was going to take his own sweet time following their commands.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a pang of apprehension mixed in with his annoyance and anger. Why was the idiot taking so long?! He glanced at his father to see the man now glaring at him. Like it was his fault the moron was so fucking slow. He turned his gaze back to the blond and mentally urged him to speed up.

He quickly squashed down the anxiety that began growing in his gut. He always felt like a coward when his anxiety issues began to surface, but he had been suffering from the problem for years thanks to his bastard of a father and could only do so much to calm down. Anger helped, but he had learned long ago not to use that emotion around Fugaku. Acting like he wasn't being affect by his father's actions always made Fugaku give up sooner.

Meanwhile, Naruto was quietly grumbling to himself about the lack of manners the humans were displaying, "They could have said please and asked nicely…"

Once he finally made it to the table he heard Fugaku grumble "pathetic" and missed Sasuke's slight wince beside him.

"Keh," Naruto frowned and grabbed the bottle of wine (which was right in front of Fugaku! Lazy ass!) a little rougher than was necessary from its resting place. He then reached across his own body to reach Fugaku's goblet with his left hand.

He tipped the open bottle and began to quickly pour it into the goblet. The goblet was almost full when Naruto's right arm holding the wine bottle was suddenly bumped causing him to lose his grip on the bottle. Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened as they both fumbled to grab the bottle before it fell.

The bottle landed on the table with a small thump. Unfortunately, it landed on its side and immediately began pouring out all over Sasuke's lap. The raven quickly jumped to his feet, feeling his dark dress pants get soaked in the red liquid. He was sure the wine had made it to his underwear and thanked the heavens that the liquid had been served at room temperature instead of chilled.

He watched as Naruto quickly set the glass of wine onto the table, sloshing its content onto the white table cloth before moving his hand to cup over the bottles leaking mouth, trying to stay the liquid, while his other hand grabbed the neck of the bottle to right it.

The room was deathly silent.

Naruto was panting with adrenaline. The accident had happened so quickly and had caused so much havoc. He looked from his red stained hands, to the red slash bleeding into the tablecloth, to the floor at his feet that was sporting a dark puddle, and finally let his eyes travel up Sasuke's still form next to him. His gaze paused on the raven's drenched crotch, the thin fabric of his dress pants stuck to his skin where they were darker due to the wine.

Naruto gulped and slowly raised his eyes to meet the youngest Uchiha's dark gaze. Sasuke's eyes were wide in surprise and his mouth was slightly open as he stared at the mess the dobe had made. He didn't miss the way the corner of Itachi's mouth twitched as he bit the inside of his cheek trying not to laugh. If the situation was reversed and Itachi had a crotch full of wine then Sasuke would have been rolling on the ground laughing… or at least be snickering quietly to himself since Uchiha's don't laugh like that. He chose to ignore his brother at the moment. When he noticed the blond moron staring at him, his mouth quickly closed to form a thin line and his eyes narrowed onto an annoyed glare.

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared into Sasuke's dark eyes. Could you kill someone with just a glare? Naruto didn't think so, but with the way Sasuke's eyes burned with a mix of multiple emotions Naruto was pretty sure he would burst into flames any moment if he didn't try to douse that fury soon.

"Ah, haha," Naruto gave an extremely weak smile trying to break the tension. Growing up, he had learned that laughing at one's own stupidity always helped. But the glare he was receiving made it difficult for him to fully appreciate the humor of the situation and he was having a difficult time forcing the laugh.

Sasuke's glare darkened. He hated that smile. It didn't suit the blond at all.

"Oops," Naruto raised a hand to scratch at the back of his neck in his usual nervous or embarrassed manner, but stopped when he remembered that it was dripping with red wine. "L-let me help…" he trailed off as he began to look for some napkins that he hoped would magically appear on the table.

"What. The. Hell," Sasuke calmly breathed as he kept his glare locked on the side of the blond's face. He watched as the back of Naruto's neck and ears gained a reddish hue. "I thought Jinchūriki were known for being graceful or something. How can you be this fucking clumsy?"

Naruto started coughing when he choked on his spit by inhaling too quickly. Once he cleared his throat of the phlegm-y liquid, he turned towards Sasuke with wide eyes. "It wasn't my fault! He," he gestured to Fugaku, "hit my arm, making me spill!"

Sasuke glanced over to Fugaku, who raised a challenging eyebrow, and then looked back to Naruto. "Why would my father intentionally make you spill his own wine?" He questioned the blond, not losing his glare.

Naruto scoffed, "Keh, I don't know. Because he's an asshole?"

"You insolent-" CRACK!

Naruto turned to glare angrily at Fugaku. His right hand tightened around the back of the man's right wrist where he had tried to back-hand him across the face. He thanked his years of training with his silver-haired father and Gaara for having quick reflexes. Sure, he wasn't able to catch the bottle of wine in time to save Sasuke's pants, but Sasuke's hands were trying to catch the bottle too and they got in his way.

He barred his missing fangs in a snarl at the older man, "Don't you dare touch me." He was satisfied when Fugaku's eyes widened a fraction in surprise. He felt and saw Fugaku's muscles tense as he prepared to dislodge Naruto's hand.

Naruto raised his left hand in front of his chest in preparation of an attack. He only planned to defend himself, and had no intention of attacking. Though if Fugaku continued with his attacks then Naruto wouldn't hesitate on taking him out. He was pulled out of his glaring match with Fugaku when his hair was suddenly yanked, forcing his head back as he yelped in surprise.

He released Fugaku's wrist as his head filled with pain. Naruto awkwardly turned his body towards his attacker to see smoldering black eyes.

Sasuke's grip on Naruto's hair loosened slightly as the blond turned towards him. Before Naruto could react further, Sasuke grabbed the blond's right hand with his left and twisted Naruto's wrist outward. He released the golden hair as Naruto's body continued its rotation towards and past him. He twisted Naruto's wrist more causing the blond to fall to his knees lest his wrist break.

Naruto's head narrowly missed hitting the table as he was forced down. His free left hand swung wildly as he struggled to keep his balance in this new awkward position.

"Naruto," Sasuke calmly called as he grabbed Naruto's chin with his free right hand and forced the blond to look at him. "Stop."

The sound of Naruto's name caused the fox to freeze in his preparation to counter attack. In the past week, Sasuke had refused to call Naruto by his actual name. Something in the way the raven had said his name made Naruto want to listen to him.

Bright blue eyes swirling with anger, surprise, and pain stared into dark black. Even though Sasuke's face was mostly blank, only slight wrinkles forming between his eyebrows and around his eyes as he struggled to control his expression, Naruto was surprised by the amount of emotion he could see through the raven's dark gaze.

He had expected the same anger he had seen burning earlier in those dark depths. Now, that rage was not as prominent, instead replaced with frustration, panic, and a little bit of fear. Naruto didn't understand why the raven was feeling these, but they didn't suit him at all. The young Uchiha had always seemed so sure of himself. But now, Sasuke almost looked vulnerable, like he was pleading for Naruto to not do anything else stupid. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that that was exactly what Sasuke was doing.

Something was going on here that Naruto wasn't seeing. Something was affecting the young man in deeper ways than should have been possible in situations such as these.

Naruto's heart clenched as he took in all the uncharacteristic emotions swirling in Sasuke's dark eyes. Ever the compassionate person, Naruto couldn't bring himself to fight back anymore, not right now. He felt compelled to ease the young Uchiha's emotional distress. He could only think of one way to do that, even though he didn't like the idea.

He ignored the feeling of the puddle of wine seeping into the knees of his jeans as he took a deep breath and lowered his gaze in an act of submission. "I apologize. It was my fault." Naruto could practically feel his pride being crushed (which seemed to be happening a lot these days) and it killed him; but when he looked back up into Sasuke's eyes and saw relief wash over him as he nodded in satisfaction, Naruto decided that he could handle the blow to his manhood, just this once.

Sasuke sighed and released his hold on Naruto's wrist. He watched as Naruto remained on his knees and lowered his gaze back to the ground, his only movement was rubbing at his sore wrist. Sasuke would be lying if he said he felt bad for the blond, but he couldn't allow his father the satisfaction of the punishment he would bestow on a misbehaving pet. Naruto may be annoying, but he didn't deserve to be tortured for just defending himself no matter how inappropriate his actions were.

Sasuke turned his gaze to his father to gauge his reaction to the whole ordeal. Fugaku was frowning and turning his glare from Sasuke to the submissive Jinchūriki on the floor and back to his son.

Fugaku looked like he was about to say something when he was interrupted by Itachi. "Well that was exciting," Itachi said with a slight smile, gaining the attention of both his father and brother. Turning to Fugaku, he continued, "Father, if you don't mind, I was wondering if you could read over my speech I have to give to the King of Hot Water Country. There were a few points I wanted your opinion on before I left."

Sasuke inwardly sighed when all Fugaku said was "hn" and didn't look like he was ready to attack either him or the kneeling Jinchūriki. Itachi's distraction helped, but Naruto's actions may have been enough on their own to placate the man.

Naruto had made a wise decision to prostrate himself the way he did. The action had surprised the raven since Naruto was definitely not the type of person who would back down from a fight, but he was thankful for his actions nonetheless. Sasuke's attack on the Jinchūriki had been purely on instinct, he had completely forgotten about the remote that rested in his pocket, but his actions seemed to please his father.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a man if you can't even handle one worthless beast," Fugaku spat as he eyed Sasuke. With that, he turned and headed for the door. "Come Itachi, we have things to discuss," he commanded, before exiting.

"I guess dinner's done," Itachi commented as he stood. He nodded a goodbye to his brother and then eyed the pet who what still kneeling facing away from the table.

Sasuke, too, eyed the blond. He sighed in exhaustion. 'I need a drink…'


Naruto sat on a bench with his eyes closed, smiling as a gentle breeze brushed across his face and through his hair, batting at it playfully. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of pine trees and wet soil. A sharp popping sound, like the crack of a lightning bolt, sounded to his left. He slowly opened his eyes and turned towards the new comer.

Standing a few paces away was a beautiful young woman dressed in a long white nightgown with purple lace accenting the bust and bottom of the skirt. Soft black, silver, and blue feathers replaced her eyebrows, sweeping out along her temples and down into an upside down 'V' on the outside of each eye coming to rest at the top of her cheek bones (A.N. Think Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy leaf eye makeup in "Batman and Robin", but with feathers). The glossy feathers seemed to make her pale lavender eyes glow. Large black and silver feathers mingled with her long blue/black hair that hung loose down her back and over her shoulders. Long pointed feathered ears peaked out through her hair. Her pale forearms were littered with small silver feathers that enhance her beauty, ending in delicate clawed hands.

Naruto smiled and stood to face the woman, "Hello Hinata-chan. You look lovely this evening."

Hinata blushed and clasped her hands to fidget nervously. "T-Thank you Naruto-kun," she took in his appearance and her feathered eyebrows furrowed, "How do you still look human?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow in question, so Hinata continued, "Jinchūriki always appear in their natural form in dreams."

"Oh, hehe," Naruto scratched the back of his neck, "This is me," he swept his arms out in an all encompassing gesture. "I was born looking human."

Hinata's eyes widened, "So that's why the collar seemed to have no affect on you. But, if the collar was working…then how did you know what I was? I couldn't feel your chakra…I still can't." She paused, "And what are you? How did you change your eyes like that?"

Naruto put his hands in his pockets and grinned widely, "I can still use a little chakra, so it was easy to feel you. I've never met a cosmic owl before, so imagine my surprise to find a whole family of them living so close to the man who enslaves our kind." The smile had dropped off of the fox's lips, replaced by a frown.

Hinata frowned as well and continued to fidget. "Y-yeah… My family has lived there for generations. It's safer to stay there. People aren't really supposed to know we exist. How did you know you had to touch me so I could enter your dream?"

Naruto shrugged and turned to return to his seat on the bench. "My dad used to tell me stories of Jinchūriki who evolved into mythical creatures; phoenix, unicorns, dragons. He said that it was rumored that cosmic owls could enter one's dream once skin contact was made. So I thought I'd give it a shot." He glanced at the woman who hadn't moved from her spot near the bench. "He also said that they had the ability to manipulate people's thoughts when they were still in contact with their victims," he eyed Hinata's gentle features, "though I guess 'victims' seems too harsh of a word. Your chakra feels too gentle and kind to hurt people. That's how I knew I could trust you. Is that how no one has noticed that your eyes aren't exactly human?"

Hinata nodded slowly, waiting for Naruto to answer the rest of her questions.

Naruto smiled and patted the empty seat next to him, "Come sit. Let's relax a bit before we get down to business."

Hinata hesitated for a moment, but then remembered that she was in a dream so she couldn't be hurt in any way. She had already chosen to trust this unknown Jinchūriki by meeting him in his dream, so why back out now? Besides, if things went bad she could always wipe his mind and leave. She gracefully crossed over to the bench and sat beside the blond.

Sighing, she took the time to take in her surroundings. She had noticed over the years that one could tell a lot about a person by what they dreamt about. She and Naruto were sitting at the top of a large mountain cliff overlooking a deep green forest. Mingled within the trees there was a village made of colorful wooden buildings of varying sizes. A tall wall surrounded the village; woods as far as the eye could see surrounded the wall's border. The green woods met a large blue sky that was sprinkled with fluffy white clouds. Everywhere she looked it was calm and beautiful, nothing like she had ever seen before.

"Where are we?" Hinata questioned, more to herself than to Naruto.

Naruto looked out over the landscape and sighed in contentment. "This is my Konoha." Hinata glanced over to him in question, so he continued with a chuckle. "When I was in 3rd grade, my teacher had us write a short story about our dream town. I wasn't very creative with names when I was eight so I kept the name 'Konoha'. Anyways, mine was about a village hidden among the leaves that was the home of ninjas." Naruto's eyes became clouded as he looked over his dream, lost in thought. "I went to a human school growing up; it was all I knew at the time, so everyone in my Konoha was human. Even the Jinchūriki that I knew became humans when they moved to my town; everyone was accepted… it was just easier that way. We would all go to a ninja academy to hone our individual skills. It was always peaceful in this town, full of joy and laughter. I kinda became obsessed with my story of the village so I continue writing even after the assignment is long over. It even got to the point where I started dreaming about it."

His eyes swept over the town. "Sometimes I go down there and live among the people. As I got older, more and more people showed up as I met them in the real world." He glanced over to Hinata who was silently observing him. He smiled slyly, "I'm sure you're down there as well." Hinata blushed and returned her gaze to the village taking in its unique structures. Naruto followed her gaze. "Everyone has their place down there. Sometimes I'm surprised to see what role some people play. Like, I met this doctor last week and now she's the Hokage of this village." He laughed, "It's kinda weird that I'm not the leader of my own village, but maybe that will come later."

"Why don't you just make it so you're in charge?" Hinata questioned.

Naruto smiled and shook his head, "Nah, I want it to play out how it chooses. Let it write itself, ya' know? Anyways, the dreams came more frequently as I grew older, I think as an escape from stress or something. I still keep a journal about this world, though I haven't written in it since…" He trailed off, not wanting to think about his captivity.

Naruto shook his head, focusing his attention back on his dreamscape. "Even though I'm older, I still dream that I'm a kid sometimes to fill in the gaps of my life here since new people are always showing up here. I don't really control who shows up or what they do here. Just the other day I found Sasuke-teme standing on a dock blowing fire over the water. He looked like he was about 7, which is weird cause I don't even know what he looked like at that age. I just knew it was him, ya' know? Can you guess what happened when I tried to talk to him?" Blue eyes met lavender and Naruto frowned in annoyance, "The bastard ignored me. In my own dream!" Hinata gave a soft laugh since that sounded exactly like something the raven would do.

"It sounds like a wonderful place to live," Hinata smiled. "But, why the wall?"

Naruto looked at the tall wall that surrounded the village and shrugged, "It's a ninja village, so the wall protects us from enemy ninja."

"Ah," Hinata nodded and reclined a little against the bench, enjoying the breeze. She was surprised and impressed with the amount of detail that went into Naruto's dream. It was so organized and thought out, which was unusual for a dream. The fact that Naruto's mind sought to create such a peaceful environment where equality was encouraged proved Naruto to be a kind and loving person. Hinata smiled softly as she observed the calm expression that adorned the blond's face. "Maybe, if I come to visit again, you could show me around the village?"

Naruto beamed at the cosmic owl, "I would like that." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his face becoming serious. It was time to get down to business. Opening his eyes, he looked over to Hinata, "How was Kiba able to use his chakra with his collar still activated?" Naruto remembered the blue lights glowing along the collars length showing that it was active.

Hinata, too, turned serious. "You seem very nice Naruto-kun, but…" She hesitated.

Naruto nodded in understanding, "You don't know if you could trust me. That's understandable. I haven't exactly told you who I am. I guess it's only fair if I answer all your questions before you answer mine." Naruto stood and held out his hand to Hinata to help her up.

Once Hinata was standing, Naruto cleared his throat and snapped his fingers. Suddenly they were surrounded by white. White everywhere, not even solid ground lay below them. Konoha and its surrounding forests were all gone.

Hinata looked around, a little unnerved by the lack of anything. "You have amazing control over the dream world," she observed.

Naruto shrugged, "I learned that once I was aware that I was dreaming then I could do anything I wanted here. It's a trick one of my dads taught me when I used to have nightmares as a kid." He smiled fondly as he thought of Iruka and his kind brown eyes. "But I'm not always this lucid when I'm dreaming," he admitted. "Sometimes, even I don't know what the hell is going on in here," he grinned as he tapped his finger against his temple for emphasis.

Hinata nodded in understanding and waited for the blond to start talking.

Naruto sighed and scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out where to start. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Ok, in order to answer your question about how I could feel your chakra but you still couldn't feel mine even though we are both 'pure-bloods', you need to know exactly how chakra works. I'm assuming you know the basics since you can manipulate your chakra to appear human and enter dreams and whatnot."

Seeing Hinata nod, Naruto continued. "Let's start with a 'half-blood' Jinchūriki." He gestured to a black human shaped silhouette that just appeared to their right. "We all know that the bulk of our chakra is stored and regenerated here," a swirling ball of blue light formed in the pit of the figure's stomach. "And our chakra is sealed there until we're around four, at which time it is slowly released so it circles around in our bodies much like our blood," Hinata nodded as she saw the blue swirl flow through the body, looking like veins. Always flowing from and returning to the ball in the stomach.

Naruto cleared his throat and continued, "Since 'half-bloods' have less control of their chakra than 'pure-bloods' because of their human blood, their chakra looks like this," a blue aura a few inches thick formed around the body. "Since their chakra is always loose and reaching out to other chakra," an identical silhouette appeared and the two chakras formed a series of ropes that touched and tangled with each other, "then those Jinchūriki are not able to hide their chakra from anyone."

Naruto looked over to Hinata to make sure she was still following. It appeared that she was, so he smiled and continued. "Now let's look at 'pure-bloods'." A shimmering purple aura formed around Hinata causing her to jump in surprise. Unless a large amount of it was compressed, chakra was usually not visible to the naked eye, so seeing her own chakra, even in a simulation, in such a vibrant color fascinated Hinata. She tilted her head to the side as she looked at her clawed hand. The purple chakra stood about an inch thick, looking like a mixture of bubbling liquid and wispy smoke.

"'Pure-bloods' are able to have more control over their chakra so the majority of it stays close to their bodies at all times, unless forced outward. A 'pure-blood's' chakra still reaches out to meet foreign chakra to identify the person's breed and general personality. It's a natural process that most likely started with our original ancestors to keep track of each other or something." Naruto shrugged, not caring to ponder any further why chakras automatically reached for each other.

Hinata watched as a thin rope of her own chakra reached out to twine with the chakra of the two silhouettes. She wasn't surprised when she couldn't feel their chakra since they weren't real, but she got the idea of how it all worked.

"However, unlike the 'half-bloods', 'pure-bloods' have the ability to cloak or shield their chakra, but only from 'half-bloods', if they so choose." The purple chakra untangled itself and returned to its source. The blue wisps of chakra followed, only to be blocked by an invisible force protecting the purple.

"'Pure-bloods' can't hide from each other because their chakra is too strong and their shields cancel each other's out. Of course chakra can only reach so far since it takes energy to spread it out. The more chakra you have the farther it can reach, so Jinchūriki have to be relatively close to each other to connect." He waved his hands between the two silhouettes, causing them to zoom away from each other. Once they were just over 70 feet apart their chakra ropes stretched out and grasped at thin air, not quite reaching each other. "That's probably the reason why your family is so close to the center of the city. No nearby Jinchūriki can feel your presence since they all have collars."

Hinata nodded absently as she looked between the two figures and then back down at her own purple cloaked body. Her feathered eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked back at the blond. "So what about you? Why can I still not feel you?"

Naruto smiled, "Well, mine works a little differently. This is what my chakra looks like." He gestured to himself. Hinata saw nothing, no aura, not even a shimmering of his skin to indicate a thin layer of chakra. "My chakra stays inside me unless I tell it otherwise. If my theory is correct, we're not technically in my head right now, but on a different plane of existence. Like another dimension of reality, right?" Hinata nodded, impressed by Naruto's advanced level of thinking. Naruto smiled, "That's why you can't feel me right now. My body itself acts as a barrier, not allowing any of my chakra to escape and be used needlessly, which is why I was able to change my eye color." Purple and blue chakra ropes reached for the blond, only to brush against his skin, feeling nothing. "I can feel you through my skin, but you can't feel me back."

Hinata's eyes widened. She had never heard of anyone like Naruto before. It was fascinating and yet terrifying at the same time. "How is that possible?"

Naruto grinned, "That's an easy question to answer. All I have to do is reach out to you." A reddish/orange aura suddenly bubbled out of Naruto and reached out to Hinata's purple. As soon as the two chakras met, Hinata gasped and took a step back.

"Kyuubi-sama," she gawked, her face flushing with the feeling of such power overwhelming her senses, "B-but how? Why?"

Naruto waved her off. "Please don't start with that 'Kyuubi-sama' stuff. That's what I am, not who I am. Please keep calling me Naruto." He grinned broadly in a friendly manner. Hinata nodded, a blush continuing to spread across her cheeks and chest. "As for how or why," Naruto sighed, "I was careless and Uchiha Fugaku had me shot. When I woke up I was sporting a brand new collar." He laughed bitterly.

His blue eyes turned pleading, "Please tell me you have some way to contact people outside of the Wall. I need my family to know where I am and that…I'm ok…for now."

Tears came to Hinata's eyes as she looked upon the fox in sympathy. She shook her head, "I don't have any contact with anyone outside the family anymore. My father has become very protective of me. But I'm sure my cousin Neji has connections."

Naruto nodded, "You can tell Neji who-what I am, but not Kiba. Sorry, but he seems like he couldn't keep a secret. By the way, how's his head? Sasuke's really mad at me for what I did earlier today so he probably won't let me visit you guys for a while." Naruto felt really bad for attacking, or more accurately counter-attacking the canine. He knew that dog Jinchūriki were known for being extremely loyal and hoped to elicit some sort of reaction out of Kiba to get closer to Hinata if he posed some sort of threat to her. Of course he didn't want to pose an actual threat to her, so he settled on making it seem like he was interested in her. She was cute and all, she just wasn't his type. Though, honestly, Naruto didn't really have a 'type'. He wasn't sure if his leering would work, but judging by Kiba's reaction he had chosen his actions perfectly.

Hinata's face reddened (though how it was able to get any darker, Naruto wasn't sure) and she shook head, "H-He's fine. I'm sorry about his behavior. I honestly don't know what came over him; he's normally very gentle and friendly."

Naruto smiled, "Don't worry about it, it was my fault." At Hinata's confused look, Naruto released a small cough and continued, "Let's just keep that little incident between us, shall we? No harm, no foul. Anyways, try to get Neji to convince Sasuke-teme to let me come back to visit again. I'll take care of the skin contact."

Hinata nodded, agreeing to the plan.

Naruto straightened his back and allowed his eyes to grow serious. "Now you know why I need to know about Kiba's collar. It looked active, but it didn't suppress his chakra. Why?" Naruto paused as a thought came to his mind, "And what is a family of cosmic owl Jinchūriki doing owning an Inuzuka anyways?"

Hinata's blush seemed to grow even deeper as she looked around the white abyss for a rock to crawl under. "H-he saved me. A few years ago I was attacked by a group of human boys in an alley and Kiba came to my rescue. He was owned by a family who owned the shop next to the alley. They were going to…euthanize him for attacking humans, but my father convinced the owners to sell him to us. He claimed that he owed us a-a life debt, even though he was the one who saved me. We asked if he wanted to stay with us, that way he would be safe from being captured again."

Naruto smiled, he knew Kiba was a good guy when he saw him. He was sure it didn't take much 'convincing' on her father's part once he got a hold on Kiba's previous owners. Being a cosmic owl was probably super convenient. Seeing Hinata still fidget uncomfortably, he took pity on her. "And the collar?"

Hinata sighed in relief. "Since he's a 'half-blood' and can't look human he keeps the collar on so he can go into town with us and no one will question his presence since 'pets' are seen in town with their masters all the time. Plus we regularly have human visitors, like Sasuke, so he needs to keep up appearances. A friend of ours altered it. He did something to the back near the lock so it's still on but doesn't respond to the remote and doesn't suppress the chakra."

"Hmm," Naruto frowned, "Can I see the back?"

Hinata raised a feathered eyebrow in confusion.

"I can't see the back of my own collar and haven't got close enough to another to see the lock. Just pull up the image of Kiba's collar so I can see it."

Hinata nodded and a two dimensional picture appeared between them.

Naruto eyed the picture. It was obviously taken through Hinata's eyes. It was of the back of Kiba's head and bare shoulders; Hinata's small pale hands rested against his shoulder blades. Naruto smirked, 'Kinky. That explains why Kiba got so upset earlier.' He chose to not give the shy girl a heart attack by mentioning the compromising position that the picture implied. Instead he chose to focus on the collar.

The silver band had a small hole at the back along with a group of intricate symbols. He frowned, "Shit. It's a seal… That explains how the collar can seal off our chakra supply." His fingers brushed along the seals. "Some of these must be connected to the seals scattered throughout the city that activate the collar when the seal in the remote isn't there to counter it. These are too intricate for me to figure out. Damn."

Naruto scratched his cheek and furrowed his eyebrows at the small detailed lines etched into the silver collar. He sighed and looked back up to Hinata, "So who is this friend who altered the collar and how do I get to him?"

Hinata smiled, "Actually that will be easy. It turns out that Sasuke is good friends with him. They get together every month to play Shoji. His name is Nara Shi-"


Naruto woke abruptly from his dream. Confusion settled in as Naruto stared around the dark ceiling wondering where he was. It seemed like he had been in his dream realm with Hinata for years and he was having trouble focusing.

The foot of his cot was suddenly jostled as someone bumped into it. Naruto sat up, alert to his room's intruder, and squinted his eyes through the room's gloom to try to see who it was. "Teme?" he hazarded a guess.

A grunted "hn" was his only reply confirming his suspicions. Sasuke kicked against Naruto's cot again. 'What the hell?' Why was the human being so clumsy? What was he doing?

Naruto cautiously leaned over to the nightstand and switched on the lamp, flooding the room with a soft glow.

Sasuke hissed as he was blinded by the brightness, he lifted up a hand to shade his eyes from the offending light.

Naruto watched as the raven stumbled back to bump into door. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he finally questioned.

Sasuke frowned and turned an annoyed glare on the blond. "'S none of yer b'sness," he slurred as he pushed himself off the door towards his bed.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Are you…drunk?" He accused in confusion. Why the hell would the bastard be drunk? Sure he had had a bad day, but to come stumbling home in the middle of the night like this was a little extreme. It didn't seem to fit with the stoic raven's personality.

Sasuke hadn't said anything after dinner; he had just slammed the collar's remote on his desk before heading into the shower to get the heavy smell of wine off his body. Once he emerged fully dressed, the Uchiha grabbed his wallet and cell phone off his desk and just left the room. Naruto hadn't even had a chance to ask him about his own dinner…

He received another glare for his question, though the expression had lost its usual forcefulness due to the Uchiha's eyes having trouble focusing. There was also the fact that Sasuke was now supporting himself on the bed as he made his way around to the far side, making him look like an infant learning to walk.

Naruto watched in silence as the young Uchiha gracelessly pulled off his pants and moved to take off his shirt. "Turn off the damn light, Dobe. 'S blindin' me." Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto quickly turned off the light and laid back in bed. He could hear Sasuke moving around, undressing the rest of the way, before getting into bed. The faint sound of the bed springs and ruffling of sheets could be heard before the room returned to silence.

Naruto stared into the dark room for a few minutes, wondering why Sasuke had returned in this state, before finally giving up to let sleep take him again.


A.N.-To be continued! So how was it?! Did everything make sense? There was a little more insight on Sasuke in here (he has issues…). I had the dream scene planned out a long time ago and didn't know where I would fit it in, so I'm glad I found a place. There will be more dream scenes in the future because I really like writing them since you can do anything you want there. Naruto seemed even more insightful in his dreams… such a wise little fox.

Special Note! Want to see Hinata in cosmic owl form?! Let me know and I'll post a pic of her for you all to see on Deviantart! I drew it a while ago to go with the dream scene and now that I posted this chapter I get to post the picture too. Yay!

I got the cosmic owl idea from Adventure Time by the way. I was trying to think of a cool animal to make the Hyuuga's and 'cosmic owl' just came to me, then I remembered that they had to do with dreams in Adventure Time so there you go.

Next chapter- Back to Gaara! Woot! Until next time! By the way, I'm going on vacation, so the next chapter won't be out for like a month. Sorry!