Shadows within a Dream

By: Kisu

A/N: Sorry for the wait guys…I've been really busy. This chapter is unedited so please don't shoot me! XP

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei!

3.5: Hidden Memory

It took them longer than they expected. The Missing-nin sure moved fast and when they thought they had caught up with him, he escaped yet again. So finally, with one day up, Naruto turned toward his companions.

"Time is running out." He said, seriously. "There is only one thing we can do."

Sasuke looked up from watching over the roasting fish in the fire. With a frown, he shook his head slowly. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"We have to come into him in all four directions so he wouldn't escape again." Naruto continued, grimly. "That means we have to split up."

"Hm." Gaara stated as his green gaze flickered from their surroundings to the blonde speaker.

"It's a good idea." Neji nodded. "If we continue on this pace, we might not even get the Missing-nin and get back to Konoha on time."

Silence fell onto them and was occasionally broken by the crackles of the burning firewood.

"I'll take north." Gaara spoke up.

"West." Sasuke said, reluctantly.

"East." Neji confirmed.

"That leaves me to south." Naruto smiled. "All right, if we don't meet up with him, then we meet back here in 6 hours. If you do, release this flare." He pulled out four small cylinders from his pocket and distributed them. Wordlessly they took them and placed them in their pockets. Then, after quickly eating a fish each, they put out the fire and went off in their respectable destinations.

"Good luck." Neji said, darting off.

"Don't get us disqualified, Uzumaki." Gaara said, before disappearing in a whirl of sand.

Sasuke gazed at him solemnly before grabbing his shoulder. He gave him a slight shake. "Be careful." He said, seriously. "If it's too much, turn back."

"Teme!" Naruto growled, playfully. "That also applies to you."

"I'm just looking out for you, Dobe." Sasuke smirked before jumping up into the trees and taking off.

Naruto smiled softly at the disappearing figure before slowly making his way south.

---

"Hmm." Gaara crouched down to examine a footprint. "A trap?" He picked up a stone and hurled it in the foliage. Hearing a sound from above, he ducked and rolled away as a heavy log came crashing down on the spot where he once stood. "What a stupid trap." He commented, before feeling the ground gave way. Sand from his gourd spilled out to stretch taut at his feet, as he quickly moved to the side.

The Missing-nin had dug a hole and disguised it.

That meant he was very, very close.

A red flare shot up into the air in the east and Gaara smirked.

Bingo.

---

Neji turned around quickly, hand fumbling to the spot where he had strapped his flare gun. He came away empty-handed and the sound of a gun being fired made him look up.

"Looking for this?"

"Yes." Neji replied, coolly. He recognized the girl in front of him as one of the Cloud-nins from earlier. Nakata Saya, and her green eyes were glaring at him with utmost hatred. "You don't happen to be a dangerous Missing-nin in disguise?"

"No." Saya snapped. "You're in the way, I have to eliminate you."

"Try." Neji smirked, not moving from his position.

"Hyuugas." Saya spat. "I don't know what's special about you all!" She launched forward, only to be pushed back by a wave of sand. Gaara landed next to Neji and was quickly followed by Sasuke.

"Who is she?" Sasuke asked, frowning at the girl.

"Nakata Saya of the honorable Nakata Clan!" Saya announced. "I have come to claim my position as the rightful fiancée of Naru-chan!"

They all blinked and stared at her.

What's up with all these weird girls popping up and declaring themselves as Naruto's fiancée?

"Get through me first." Gaara spoke up with a creepy smile. Sand began to swirl around him in an alarming rate and then shot toward the unsuspecting Cloud-nin.

---

Are you all right?

"I've been better." He murmured as he caught his breath. "I have even more respect for Rock Lee now."

I warned you before. You overdid it.

"I know." He replied. He could feel the Kyuubi shifting restlessly within the depths of his mind.

You will heal slower than usual without my aid.

Naruto frowned before looking around. After seeing Neji's flare, he had been heading towards that direction but now it seemed he was just going around in circles. Then it dawned onto him.

"Genjutsu."

A kunai came hurtling by and he jumped to the side, staring as it slammed into the trunk of a tree. Its owner crept out from behind a tree and Naruto sighed.

"Shi-chan, what are you doing here?" Nakata Shiko, the older twin by mere minutes watched him with blazing green eyes.

"Saya has been very unhappy once she found out that you were engaged to Cho. I was also displeased." Shiko said, icily.

"I'm not engaged to anyone." Naruto replied with a frown.

"No matter." Shiko told him. "Because we are on orders to take you back to Hidden Cloud village."

"What?" Naruto stared at him. "My business with Kazuo is finished."

"Do not disrespect our Raikage with such informality!" Shiko yelled, running forward. He drew a kunai from his pouch and dove toward Naruto.

There was a sound of ripping flesh and a splash of blood fell to the ground.

---

Kiba frowned and watched Akamaru pause to sniff the air. Kankoru frowned as he let pulled their bound missing-nin along and fixed Kiba was an irritating glare. "What is it?"

"Blood has been spilt." Kiba said, thoughtfully as he ruffled Akamaru's soft fur. His puppy was now grown into a large dog with fearsome fangs and they showed as Akamaru's lips pulled back into a tentative growl.

"Blood? Then someone has been wounded." Temari commented as she and Shikamaru stepped out of the bushes from behind them. By luck, they had been all paired with the same missing-nin. It had made things a lot better and kept Temari and Kankoru from killing the Leaf-nins when they got at their nerves.

Shikamaru slowly picked out the leaves from his hair and turned toward Kiba. "Do you know who is wounded?"

"Naruto." Kiba said after a moment of silence.

"No way!" Temari gasped as she bounded up into the air, withdrawing her fan as she spoke.

"Hey!" Shikamaru yelled out. "Women…"

---

"Wait, you can't kill her." Neji interjected as Gaara's sand wrapped around the Mist-nin's legs with frightening speed.

"Don't worry. I'll just tear off her legs." Gaara replied, calmly.

"Let me go!" Saya screamed, trying unsuccessfully to free her legs from the sand.

"Gaara!" Sasuke snapped. Gaara smiled wickedly as his slowly raised his arm and paused. The sand released Saya in a blink of an eye and disappeared as fast as it came.

"Naruto is hurt." Gaara said in monotone as he dashed off.

"Wait!" Sasuke called out but froze in midstep.

"What's wrong, Uchiha?" Neji asked.

---

Shiko disappeared and reappeared, flinging three shurikens aimed straight at his face. He quickly swept up his arm and gritted his teeth as they sank into the soft flesh. Blood trickled down from the shallow wounds and dropped onto the floor.

"Itai." Naruto winced. He slowly let his arm fall to his side and he took the time to pull out the shurikens one by one. As he did this, he examined the silent Chuunin in front of him. Nakata Shiko had always reminded him on Sasuke, but when at times he was silent and reserved, he was also loud and brash. Something that Sasuke and Naruto would spawn.

Naruto stared at his arm, wishing that he could use some chakra to heal the shuriken inflicted wounds. Was this how Rock Lee felt like when he got hurt? Was this how all shinobi felt like?

"Why aren't you healing?" Shiko demanded, angrily.

"Are you getting worried about me, Shiko-chan?" Naruto smirked.

"No! No one should care for a traitor like you!" Shiko said furiously. His green eyes glittered with angry tears. "It was because of you that the village burned down! And we lost everyone we cared for!"

"Sou." Naruto responded as his smirk slowly disappeared and was replaced by an expressionless mask.

"I hate you! You're a monster!" Shiko screamed.

"A monster?" Naruto repeated. He sighed softly. "Yes I am."

"I hate you! Die!" The prodigy of the Nakata Clan ran forward, his chakra molding into a katana in his hands.

"Your hatred towards me and your goal to kill me is admirable." Naruto whispered as Shiko neared him. "But that is not the way to become strong, Shiko-chan."

---

"He cannot hear you now, Hyuuga." Saya said from behind him. Neji turned around slowly and crossed his arms.

"Explain." He directed. Saya smiled sweetly but her green eyes shone with malice.

"I have made it my ambition to kill not only you, but also Uchiha Sasuke." Saya said. "And it seems like Uchiha is first."

"I understand the Hyuuga's history with Hidden Mist but while Uchiha?" Neji asked.

"It is because his existence is not accepted by me." Saya replied.

---

He breathed in, calming the blood that pounded throughout his body and slowed his breathing down to a minimum.

Then he could finally listen.

Someone or something was there.

Ebony depths slowly spun into orbs of crimson red.

And a chill slid down the middle of his back, the hair on his neck standing up uncomfortably.

"Who's there?" He asked, slowly straightening to his feet.

A soft brush of wind like a sigh caressed his body as it swept past him. But there had been no wind today. The air was eerily still.

"Cursed child of the Uchiha Clan."

Sasuke spun around, his eyes widening to find the owner of the voice.

"Such a sad fate that you have brought upon yourself."

"Show yourself!" Sasuke yelled.

"You have brought death to everyone that was close to you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and reached behind his back to the pouch which held his shurikens.

"If you truly love him, stay away."

A mist clouded the clearing for a brief second and he caught the form of a figure. With an angry curse, he lunged forward and allowed the ninja stars to glide out of his fingers from great amounts of practice. The perfectly aimed shurikens sailed through the mist and straight through the figure.

Sasuke stared as the figure stepped closer. Dark black tresses framed a face that had haunted him for many nights. His hands quickly whipped out two kunais and he held them with a death grip as the figure looked up. He was clad in a simple white robe that made his skin even paler than what it seemed.

"Orochimaru." Sasuke whispered as he met those dark eyes that had once spun lies of power around him.

"You will be the death of the one you love." He told him. Sasuke watched as Orochimaru smirked. "You are the one who stands in the way of Naruto-kun's dream."

"What?" Sasuke sputtered, paling slightly.

"Don't forget, Uchiha Sasuke. You will always belong to me." Orochimaru laughed. Then as the mist receded, he slowly disappeared as if he was also made from mist. The clearing became visible again and Sasuke felt his lungs burn in the deprivation of air.

He breathed in slowly and vaguely he heard the birds singing again and the soft hush voices of the life in the forest.

Then the sudden familiar sear of the seal on his neck made him cry out. He bit his bottom lip and clamped a hand onto the side of his neck, concentrating to will the seal from acting up.

"Naruto…" He whispered as he sank to his knees.

---

Naruto watched as Shiko neared him and prepared to avoid the attack.

"Naruto…"

"Sasuke?" Naruto blinked, frowning in confusion. Suddenly, he realized that Shiko was closing in on him faster than expected and cursed.

With a deep breath, Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the impact. The sickening sound of tearing flesh made Shiko widen his eyes and he felt his former sensei's warm blood splash onto his hands on onto his face. Jerking away, he fell back and caught his breath as Naruto coughed up a small amount of blood. The chakra created kunais slowly dissolved.

"Why?' Shiko demanded as Naruto slowly opened his eyes.

The mask fell away slowly as if pieces were disintegrating into thin air. For the first time, Shiko was captivated by the sheer amount of knowledge in Naruto's eyes. He shuddered.

"I want you to know that by killing me, nothing will make it better." Naruto told him. "You will not be relieved by my death and your burden will increase even more. Your own hate will not make you any stronger. It will just lead to your own destruction."

"Lies. Uzumaki, stop spewing lies!" Shiko snapped. "The Raikage said…"

"Do you believe everything Kazuo says?" Naruto asked. "Do you still trust him after all the infliction he had brought upon the people? Do you believe him in after everything has happened to Cho?"

"I know he's not the best but the Raikage is everything that Hidden Mist has." Shiko growled. "You don't know anything! You're just a Leaf-nin!"

Those words bit sharply at Naruto and finally he gave up.

"Fine." He relented. "Kill me and prove me wrong. Or are you chicken?"

"I will kill you!" Shiko replied as his chakra created two new kunai's in his hands.

"If you kill Uzuamki Naruto, I will give Cho's hand in marriage."

Shiko frowned and bitterly ran forward once again.

"Believe in yourself, Shi-chan! You can do it!"

Tears of despair came to Shiko's eyes and he squeezed them tightly shut. "Naruto!" He yelled out as he neared Naruto and just as his hands dove straight into Naruto's chest, a wave of sand came crashing down onto him.

"Gaara." Naruto turned around in shock. "Don't kill him!"

"Why?" Gaara replied as he eyed the sand mound in front of them.

"He's just confused!" Naruto protested loudly. He wavered on his feet and fell towards him. Gaara quickly caught the blonde and frowned.

"You've lost a lot of blood." He commented.

"Don't kill him, Gaara." Naruto replied, as his eyes fluttered shut. "I'm…tired." Gaara stared at the young man before slowly releasing the prisoner from his sand coffin.

Shiko fell out, unconscious as the sand receded.

---

"Kai!"

Sasuke blinked and winced as he slapped a hand over the burning seal on his neck.

"You have to be careful, Uchiha." Neji said as he stood next to him. Saya was on the ground, looking a little beat up.

"Orochimaru…" Sasuke murmured, eyes falling to the ground. "What happened…? I don't remember?"

Neji stared at Sasuke before turning away. It was true that Sasuke had run away to join Orochimaru but Naruto had been relentless in bringing him back. Tsunade made it official that Orochimaru needed to be stopped and Shikamaru was in charge of the ongoing mission. The second time they went to rescue Sasuke, Sakura had tagged along.

However, only Naruto entered the fortress and came back with Sasuke. When they retrieved Sasuke from him, he had fainted in exhaustion and the next day when Naruto had recovered, he had left Konoha for a month.

In turn, Sasuke would not eat nor drink and would not talk. He could only stare blankly ahead in his bed in the hospital. Even when Sakura visited him he didn't acknowledge her. Therefore, Tsunade decided to place a jutsu on him and block his memory of the incident. After all, there was no way that you can erase someone's memory. You could only prevent them from remembering.

Just like Naruto's secret; Sasuke's secret was also kept in the dark from everyone.

"Uchiha…" Neji began but was cut off when someone was flung across the clearing and landed at Saya's feet.

"Shiko!" Saya gasped as she reached out for her twin brother. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Shiko replied as he got up slowly.

Another body was flung across the clearing to land at Neji's feet. Then finally Gaara emerged with Naruto slung over his shoulder.

"What happened to him?" Sasuke demanded as he quickly walked up to Gaara.

"He needs medical attention immediately since he doesn't have chakra to heal himself." Gaara replied.

"I'll take him." Sasuke said. Gaara gave him a calculating look before gently handing the blonde over. Sasuke swept him up in his arms and swallowed with difficulty when he realized how light the blonde was.

"Who's this?" Neji asked as he squatted down and examined the man at his feet. He was beaten pretty badly but he was still alive.

"Our missing-nin." Gaara said.

"I'm surprised you let him live." Sasuke commented. Gaara walked past him slowly.

"Uzumaki wanted him alive." Gaara said. "If it was any other person, I wouldn't have considered it."

Neji nodded in affirmation as he slung the missing-nin over his shoulder.

"Let's head back to the village. You two..follow us." Neji told the twins.

"If you escape…I'll kill you." Gaara said as he walked past him. Shiko paled and grabbed Saya's arm as he helped her up.

"We should do what he says." Shiko whispered. Saya nodded wordlessly as they walked behind Gaara.

Neji followed the twins and left Sasuke to round up the rear.

---

"Come to me, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke froze and tightened his hold on Naruto.

"When you kill your most precious loved one, you will obtain the utmost power."

Sasuke shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Then immediately regretted it when all he could smell was the metallic tang of Naruto's blood.

"When your hands become slick in his blood, I will be waiting."

"No." Sasuke whispered.

"And when you speak my name, I will come for you."

"I won't ever let anyone hurt you ever again, Naruto." Sasuke vowed. "Not even myself." But what did happen after he went to Orochimaru?

"Uchiha." He looked up at the sound of Neji's voice. "Let's go." The Chuunin stared at him with emotionless silver eyes.

"Hai." Sasuke replied as he clutched Naruto to his chest and dashed forward.

Neji shook his head and ran after him.

---

A/N: A lousy update but an update nonetheless! Poor Naruto is hurt again! The next chapter will talk about Sasuke and Orochimaru! XD Enjoy! Thanks for the reviews…I will try to respond to them next time!