Shadows within a Dream
By: Kisu
A/N: I hope you guys didn't have a hard time finding this fic…I didn't like the title: "Moonlight Shadows" anymore so I changed it. The bad part is that I deleted part 1 from my computer, so if I decide I'm bored enough….I'll have to rewrite it over. T_____T
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me…only to its creator and all the licensing good stuff…
2.9: Genjutsu
Kakashi woke up with a start and glanced around his dark apartment. He easily slipped his mask over the lower half of his face with years of expertise and got out of bed. Then, he proceeded to the other side of the room and drew back the heavy curtains. It was instinct, he realized as he opened the window. Instinct told him that there was something wrong. After all, years of training had honed his ability to recognize that his instinct had never led him wrong. But the problem is, what was wrong?
He turned away to get dressed and slipped into his Jounin uniform. Then, he fastened his forehead protector securely over his head and adjusted it to shield his left eye. He proceeded out the door in search for answers. He should probably check in with the other Jounins to see if they could sense a strange vibe in the air. Maybe he should also check in with his team members. The door swung shut behind him and a soft click echoed in the silent room as the lock slid in place.
Kakashi had forgotten that he had left his window open.
***
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, clutching onto the screaming blonde. "Calm down!" His words were in vain. There was no way that Naruto could hear him in his nightmare. His eyes widened and he quickly shoved his arm into Naruto's mouth, wincing as Naruto bit down with a muffled scream. "…you'll bite your tongue."
***
"Poor little kitsune." Itachi crooned as he circled the helpless boy. "Do you like what you're seeing?"
"Make it stop!" Naruto moaned in desperation. His hands were over his ears and his eyes were squeezed shut. "Make it go away."
"I can't take it away." Itachi sighed, reluctantly. "After all, it is reality."
"No. No it isn't real." Naruto whispered, shaking his head. "Konohagure won't fall this easily."
"Why can't it fall this easily?" Itachi asked, wrapping his arms around the trembling boy. "Can't you see it with your own two eyes?" He gripped Naruto's head. "Open your eyes, Naruto. Then, tell me if you can see what is in front of you." He turned him around and Naruto slowly opened his eyes. Horror flashed onto his face and his pupils dilated in shock.
"Sasuke!" He screamed.
***
Sasuke released Naruto after he had quieted down and quickly bandaged the wound on his forearm. He frowned. Had Itachi done a genjutsu when they were sleeping? If that was the case, then he was nearby, watching them in sick amusment.
"I'll kill you, bastard." Sasuke whispered to himself as he tied a knot with his teeth. He looked over when Naruto shifted and his face contorted into an expression of horror.
"Sasuke!" He screamed in shock. Sasuke grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly.
"I'm here." Sasuke mumured, watching Naruto's face. What was he seeing that he made such a horrible face? "Naruto! You have to figure out it's genjutsu! Don't let Itachi control you!" He told him, squeezing his hand tighter.
***
Naruto moaned and his hand quickly covered his mouth as he felt the bile rise in his throat. Sasuke was tied to a tree with wires. It wrapped around him, slicing into his skin and into the bark. A puddle of blood stained the ground at Sasuke's feet and the wires had long become tainted with a glossy coat of crimson red. Is he…dead? Naruto wondered, with dread. His answer soon came when the wire around Sasuke's neck tightened and Sasuke gave a weak groan.
"Itachi! No more!" Naruto pleaded, sinking to his knees. "Don't kill him."
"Ending his pain right now would be merciful." Itachi replied, simply. The wires bite deeper into Sasuke's flesh and Sasuke screamed in agony.
"Stop, Itachi! Stop!" Naruto screamed, grabbing onto Itachi's leg. "Don't hurt him anymore! Spare him!"
"Why should I?" Itachi asked, tilting his head to the side.
"….he's your own brother." Naruto whispered.
"That doesn't give me a right to spare him." Itachi said, thoughtfully. "He's still a part of this village." The wires around Sasuke pulled tighter and Naruto stared as Sasuke screamed again.
"What do you want, Itachi?" Naruto demanded as angry tears fell from his eyes. "What do you want from me!?"
"Become my tool." Itachi said, after a moment. He placed his hand on Naruto's head. "Why did you make me do this to show you how important you are to me? I had to torture my own little brother." Itachi ran his fingers through his hair. "I wouldn't have ever done this if you had not disagreed with me in the first place. It's not my fault, you know. You provoked me."
"I-I…" Naruto stammered, looking up at Itachi.
"Listen to me. Listen to what I have to say." Itachi told him, as he dried his tears with his sleeve. "Become an empty vessel and receive me. I will spare Sasuke. Open your eyes now, and find me."
"…H-Hai."
***
Sasuke was startled when Naruto's eyes shot open. "Naruto?" He asked as he reached out to him. Before he made contact with him, chakra blew him off the bed and slammed him into the wall. Sasuke stared, dazed as Naruto got out of bed and walked out the door. Sasuke shook his head and collected his thoughts before rushing after him. "Naruto!" He yelled. "What are you…" He trailed off when he found him in front of Itachi's old room. "…Naruto?"
Naruto slid open the door, to reveal Itachi standing in the middle of the room. Sasuke found his eyes widening.
"So this was where you were hiding!" He yelled in anger. "Naruto! What are you doing?"
"He's mine now, little brother." Itachi smiled, stepping out of the shadows. "Your voice won't reach him."
"What do you mean?" Sasuke demanded, suspiciously.
"He's stuck in my little dream world." Itachi's smile widened. "I knew you could look through the genjutsu. Is it expected from the number one rookie of Konohagure." Itachi drew the blonde closer to him and nuzzled the crook of his neck. "Poor Naruto's mind is so warped that he believes his dream is real." His sharingan eyes hardened with a delicious satisfaction and he moved his lips to Naruto's ear. "Now, Kitsune. Kill this man before me."
Naruto's head rose and he stared at Sasuke. Confusion flickered slightly in his eyes and Itachi gripped his shoulders. "Do as I say, Naruto." Itachi whispered, harshly. The little life that had appeared in Naruto's eyes vanished and without warning, he launched forward at full speed.
Not here. Sasuke thought desperately. He didn't want any damages to the estate. So he turned and ran. He looked back over his shoulder to see Naruto gaining quickly on him. "He's fast." He whispered.
"Yo." Kakashi appeared next to him. "Are we playing tag?"
"Tag?" Sasuke repeated, dumbly as he recovered from the surprise in Kakashi's experience.
"Never mind." The jounin replied with a smile. His visible eye looked back over his shoulder. "So, what are we doing?"
"Running." Sasuke replied, tersely. "Naruto is caught in Itachi's genjutsu. He might be sleep walking."
"Naruto?" Kakashi repeated with surprise.
"Up front!" Sasuke yelled as they skidded to a halt on top of the roof of a building. Naruto was standing in front of him with his arms hanging loosely at his sides. His hair shadowed his eyes, looking like a puppet that hadn't been brought to life. "Naruto…" The figure before them vanished and reappeared above them. Kakashi and Sasuke leapt out of the way as Naruto slammed into the spot where they once stood in. He went after Sasuke, blue chakra exploding behind him.
Kakashi watched as they exchanged punches and kicks. Sasuke was barely able to block the attacks because of the chakra that Naruto placed into his taijutsu.
How strong is he? Kakashi wondered as Sasuke threw several shurikens at Naruto. The boy simply stepped to one side, then leaped up to grab them before unleashing them back at Sasuke.
Sasuke ducked the shuriken and rolled away before getting to his feet in timely fashion. The two stared at each other. Naruto with his uncomprehending dull blue eyes and Sasuke's fierce angry ones.
"Naruto. You have to fight the genjutsu!" Sasuke yelled, angrily. The only response he received was another round of attacks. Sasuke saw an open spot and punched Naruto in the jaw. The blonde disappeared. "A clone?"
"You got lucky, little brother." Itachi's voice made them turn around. He was perched on the edge of the roof with Naruto lying beside him like a rag doll. "Not a clone at all. You hit the real thing." His fingers trailed to the heavy red mark on Naruto's jaw and caressed it softly. "We can't have you breaking my toys now, can we?"
"You're sick!" Sasuke snapped.
"No. I think I'm perfectly healthy." Itachi replied, pleasantly.
"We have to wake him up." Kakashi declared, softly. His eye narrowed as he stared at Itachi. "But, it's dangerous to wake up a sleep walker when they are influenced by genjutsu."
"Very good, Copy Cat Ninja!" Itachi smiled, widely. "Are you willing to wake Naruto up? How would it affect his mental stability?"
"I won't let you toy with Naruto's life!" Sasuke yelled, clenching his hands into fists.
"I don't toy with peoples' lives." Itachi sneered. "I give them a taste of reality." He tapped Naruto on the head. "You haven't seen his true power yet." Naruto slowly staggered to his feet. "But I must warn you, little brother. To protect Konohagure, you have to kill him."
Sasuke growled and launched forward. When he was a fair distance away from his brother, Naruto intervened. He grabbed his arm and flipped him onto the ground. Naruto stepped backwards and Sasuke grabbed a hold of his ankle. Then, he twisted his body to lash out with his leg and knock Naruto's feet from under him. Naruto rolled to the side and gave him a hard kick to the ribs. Sasuke winced and fell to the ground. Naruto took this opportunity to appear behind him and wrapped his arms around his neck in a chokehold. With one hand, he pushed against Sasuke's head, straining his neck. Sasuke pulled at the arm around his neck with panic.
***
Kakashi's eye widened and he rushed forward to aid him when Itachi appeared before him. "Where do you think you're going?" He crooned, softly. Kakashi reverted his eye. "Your fight is with me."
***
Sasuke needed air. "Naruto." He choked out, trying to pry the strong grip away from his throat. The seal on his neck pulsed and he winced in dismay. With a shaking hand, he reached into his pouch that was strapped onto his right leg and extracted a kunai from it. "I won't lose to anyone." Sasuke hissed as he bent back his arm and drove it into Naruto's stomach.
Naruto froze and slowly release Sasuke from the chokehold. Naruto recoiled and stared down at the blood that gushed from the wound. His eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the ground. Sasuke watched him, breathing heavily and gingerly rubbed his bruised neck. "Naruto…" Sasuke whispered as he touched the blonde's face. "I'm sorry."
***
Naruto choked and blood exploded from his mouth. He gripped his stomach as a sudden pain brought him to his knees. Wearily, he crawled over to Sasuke's still body and cradled his head on his lap. "Don't die on me, Sasuke." He whispered. He coughed and spat out more blood onto the ground.
A fiery red paw shook the ground in front of him. "What do you want, Kyuubi?" He asked, tiredly.
"Wake up, Sunshine." The Nine Tails crooned with disgust.
"Go away." Naruto replied, brushing tendrils of hair away from Sasuke's closed eyes. "I don't want to play."
"You idiot." Kyuubi snarled as he slammed his paw down with emphasis. "I had to work through a great level of mental barriers to get to you. You locked me out." He snarled again and bared his teeth. "How can you fall for such a low level of genjutsu?"
"Genjutsu?" Naruto repeated, blankly. Kyuubi snarled again with irritation.
"What a damn mess you have put your mind in, Brat." Kyuubi snapped. "To let that Uchiha taint your mind…"
"But Sasuke is…" Naruto interrupted.
"Alive." Kyuubi replied, firmly. The fallen village of Konohagure began to disappear. The bodies began to disappear. Sasuke's body disappeared. "Sasuke is alive and you're dreaming." The world was once again a solemn gray. The Nine Tails crouched down next to him. "He cares about you greatly. Do something about your stupid human emotions, it's making me itchy and making your mind go haywire."
"…a dream." Naruto breathed. "…lies."
"Hurry up and wake up, Brat."
***
TBC! ^^