Special thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I love you all xDDDD.

Yes, very early update, but I was feeling generous so hence you get your early update! NoI don't think I don't think I've mentioned this but it pertains to the chapter now so it's a wonderful time to get it out there. Naruto doesn't know that he has Kyuubi locked inside of him. Hence why, in later chapters, he's confused about the way people treat him. Anywho! On with the disclaimer!

Disclaimer (because they're fun to do 8D): Okay, so obviously I don't own Naruto. I wish I COULD but that's just a far away dream... full of hot SasuNaru sex -COUGHS-! The only payment I recieve from this are your lovely reviews :].

Chapter Three: Dreams

"I think I'm the only person who has dreams every night about a raven and a fox. In my dreams, the raven tries to fight the fox, but the fox always ends up clipping its wings. At that point, I wake up with tears in my eyes…" – Naruto Uzumaki, age 11.

+Eclipse: Naruto's POV+

They're fighting again. They always do that. The raven taunts the fox, cawing and crowing, saying that a creature with four legs and no brain doesn't have the gall to attack a creature gifted with flight. The fox sneers, baring its razor-sharp fangs, and retorts saying that childish taunts will be its demise.

I sit far away from the fight, in an area where I can see them but they can't see me. I don't know if they're purposefully not seeing me or if I'm just not there. It doesn't matter really, because I've seen this scene play out a million times.

And every time the raven falls from the sky without any wings to keep it a flight.

The fight scene's coming up any moment now. The fox, named Kyuubi, gets into a fighting stance, ready to attack the raven head on. The raven, whose name I don't know yet, sits on a branch bored with this all. He's too cocky to see his death.

I never know who to root for once this scene comes. Sometimes I want to cheer for the fox because he took out that annoying, cocky, raven. And then I want to yell at the fox for attacking the raven in the first place. It was killing something with startling beauty that was tied by a rope to its horrible personality.

My voice never reaches them though and by the time I open my mouth the fox already has his claws in the raven's guts, ripping at the wings to shreds. This is the part where I always cry. I don't even know why I'm crying. It's only a dream, nothing more and nothing less.

But the emotions that flood through me as I watch the raven fall from the branch in slow mo feel all too real to me.

Kyuubi roars with laughter, pleased that he has killed off the raven. I expect him to disappear into a burst of flames like he does every time I have this dream, but tonight he does something different. He turns to me, red eyes slit with malice and anger, a haughty smile tugging on his lips.

"I warned you not to interact with this creature. A bird is nothing without its wings."

He's talking to me. Actually forming words towards me and I have no idea how to respond. The things I want to say are trapped in my throat, refusing to be voiced. My lips can move just fine, but no sounds come out of it. Is it out of fear? Or is it because of the shocking pain I feel every time I hear the raven's gurgled cries?

"Foolish human… My words mean nothing to you now, but they will one day. Till then, this is only a dream to you; nothing more and nothing less."

Now he disappears into bright, glowing, orange flames. A few linger on the spot where he was standing; they quickly die out after a few minutes. I should be waking up now, in a cold sweat, shivering from the aftershocks of the same dream. But I'm not. Instead, my feet are moving one step after another towards the dying raven on the ground. Each step, my heart hurts. I don't want to see the raven in pain. I can't handle seeing it slowly suffering as Death comes for it. I just don't want to see it.

Yet, something's forcing me to deal with the truth.

I kneel over the body, feeling sadness and pity fill my heart. I never liked seeing the raven be killed by the fox. Over and over again I wish I could step out of that invisible box holding me captive and run into save the day. The raven was cocky, yes, but that didn't mean it deserved to die like this.

"I'm sorry about this…" I mutter softly. My voice cracks and I have to pinch myself to keep the tears at bay. The raven makes some form of gurgling nose, body twitching helplessly as it gets used to the fact that it no long has any wings to make it fly. I can't watch this anymore. I can't handle seeing it go through this pain. So I scoop him up in my arms despite the blonde staining my skin and clothes, and place it at the base of the only tree around.

I whisper a few prayers, hoping its journey to heaven will be guided by an angel and the sun's rays. I'm about to turn back, when its strangled cry causes my head to whip around

And there they are…Red eyes peering in to me, trying to read me, trying to figure out who I am.

I know those red eyes…

They're so familiar to me…

"Sasuke…"

The last thing I remembered was the sound of cawing mixed with my screams as I fell into the open abyss that suddenly appeared beneath my feet.

+Eclipse: Normal POV+

Naruto shot out of bed, gripping the sheets so hard that his knuckles turned ghostly white. His heartbeat was hammering against his chest wildly from yet another dream. His breaths came out in short, quick, pants; almost like he was hyperventilating.

'Calm down, Uzumaki. It was just a dream…'

But it all felt too real to have been a dream. He could still feel the smooth, somewhat scratchy, texture of the raven's wings against his finger tips. And he still had shivers from those feral eyes of the Kyuubi staring him down. Mocking him, telling him he was a fool for ever establishing a connection to the raven.

"I'm too young for this crap." Naruto groaned, pressing a pillow against his face in hopes to block out the annoying, morning sun. This was the fourth time this week he'd had that dream. Some nights he only got blurry images of the creatures fighting each other. Other nights, every movement and every sound the fox and raven made were crystal clear. Last night was one of the clearer ones in term of visual representation.

What these dreams meant, though, weren't so clear.

"Naruto, there's a reason why the sun gets up early in the morning."

Naruto kicked his feet in protest to the unwelcome interruption. Although, he highly doubted he'd be able to drift back asleep with remnants of that last night plaguing his mind.

Minato narrowed his eyes, carefully studying his son's body language. Tense and restless; showing obvious signs of a pre-teen with something on the brain. Pushing himself off from his position on the doorframe, Minato closed the distance between he and his son and planted himself on the bed.

The added weight and the rustling of sheets, the heat that another body was currently adding heat to his domain didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. Strong arms that only a father could posses wrapped around Naruto's shoulder, nimble digits went to play in spiky blonde locks in hopes that a soothing massage would calm the blonde as well as coax answers.

"It's the same dream..."

"Isn't it always the same dream?"

Naruto shot his father a one eyed glare, not even bothering to turn his whole face away from the pillow for a two, fully effective, eyed glare. His father's annoying chuckles wasn't really helping things at all.

"But this time it was different... from the others."

Minato propped himself on one arm, gazing down at his son's face. Confusion, anxiety, and slight fear played across Naruto's face like a film strip. Each strip showed a whole new emotion. Minato scrunched his eyebrows together.

"How was it different?" his fingers went to work again, stroking through Naruto's blonde hair. He frowned slightly at the silent hesitation that came and went like a passing freight train.

Naruto chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. How much should he let his father know about the dream? It wouldn't exactly be the first time he and his father lied in bed like this and just talked. So why was now any different?

Forcing his eyes shut, he replayed the dream, jumping over holes in his memory and piecing them together so he had the perfect dream sequence front and back.

"It starts out the same. The fox, Kyuubi and the raven are throwing insults back and forth—

"The fox goes by Kyuubi now?" at Naruto's nod, Minato's body tensed a little, worry lines were being etched into his skin. "What about the raven? Does he have a name?"

'Sasuke Uchiha.'

The words danced in his mind but died on his lips. He couldn't voice those two, simple, words to his father. Naruto chewed on his cheek again. A small part of him wanted to keep the secret of the raven's name, of those beautiful red eyes, a little while longer.

Finally, Naruto shook his head in a slow 'no'. "The raven never shares his name... So, the two of them are fighting, and the raven throws one final insult at Kyuubi. Just like every dream, Kyuubi gets mad and attacks the raven. Every time I can't do anything to stop Kyuubi from attacking. And every time I'm forced to watch the raven lose his wings."

The dream flashed through his mind, and once again he was forced to hear the raven's screams, watch its maddening slow descend towards the sky, experience the emotions of sadness and immense anger towards the snickering fox.

"Normally, after Kyuubi attacks the raven he disappears in a burst of flames. This time... He talked to me."

"W-What?" Minato felt his veins freeze, his heart thumping frantically against his rib cage. His worst fears were starting to become a sickening reality.

"Yeah, it was really creepy." he unconsciously gripped onto his father's arm as Kyuubi's words started to play through his mind. "He told me it was a mistake to make friends with the raven, or something. But... like... I don't know the raven, yet it feels like I do. Okay dad, don't give me that 'you're crazy' look."

"Well, you're not really making sense right now."

Naruto pouted, absentmindedly drumming his fingers on Minato's arms. His father had a point, he really wasn't making sense. But how could he connect the links together without any common sense being the glue? "It doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. Kyuubi warned me that I was making the wrong choice. It was so weird... "

"And this is the first time this has happened?" Minato let out a heavy sigh at Naruto's nod. His stomach curled and clenched at the thought of Kyuubi growing more power, and enough of a presence, to make direct contact with Naruto – albeit through dreams.

At first, when Naruto started telling him of dreams revolving around the fox and the raven, he was a little concerned, but used the excuse of a child's imagination for the cause of it. That was six years ago; Naruto was now eleven. The same dream, on-again-off-again, for the past six years. It was alright when Naruto was five, because the fox and raven stayed their distances. As he grew older though… the dreams became more vivid and left more of an imprint on the blonde than he wanted to admit.

'Why, of all times, does the Kyuubi have to start reacting now?' Minato exhaled a sharp breath, eyes shut in frustration. He never wanted Naruto to become aware of the other existence residing in him. It was a secret he wanted to keep buried underneath many layers of dirt; literally. He should have anticipated that the Kyuubi wouldn't stay quite for now.

The feeble hope that the Kyuubi would stay nothing more than a legend was what kept Minato ignorant.

A tired smile sprayed across Minato's lips. Nothing was going to be solved if both blondes were feeling stressed from yet another, undecipherable dream. He scooped his son into his arms, resting his chin a top of Naruto's head. Instant warmth and comfort flooded through out Naruto's small body, causing shivers to dance along his spine. In his father's arms, he felt the after shocks of the dream slowly fade away.

The fear was gone, along with the sadness of the raven's meaningless death. Kyuubi's resounding voice was slowly creeping away, and as more distance grew between them, Naruto felt a little stronger.

Those red eyes, though… the imprint they left on the boy would never leave.

'Sasuke Uchiha…'

"Dad, I have nothing to worry about, right?"

Minato ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately, loving how much trust his son allowed to shine in his eyes. "Of course not, Naruto. As long as I'm here, you have nothing to fear."

"That's good to hear." Naruto giggled, resting his head on his father's shoulder. This time, the trust that was shining in Naruto's eyes turned to hunger in less than a second. "So, Dad, I think its time you took me out for breakfast." In response, Naruto's stomach growled its approval. "I'm thinking of ramen, what about you?"

Minato shook his head, chuckling at how easily Naruto could jump over a hurdle so big. If his son continued to grow like this, strong willed and optimistic, then he had no problem with one day handing over the throne to Naruto.

"You're such a brat, you know that? Well, whatever, I'll take you out for ramen but we're only eating one bowl. Do you understand?"

Naruto scoffed, jumping out of his dad's embrace to head for his closet. "Wow dad, it's like you actually expect us to only eat one bowl." The blonde shot his father a knowing grin, pulling over the first shirt he found in his closet over his head. Bright orange with his kingdom's symbol printed proudly on the front – a black swirl surrounded by flames that were supposed to represent the artistic version of the sun.

"I am the king after all," Minato replied smugly, clasping his hands behind his head and leaning back on Naruto's headboard. A wry smile tugged at his lips as he watched Naruto fish for his froggy wallet. "High standards are a part of my lifestyle."

"I'm glad to see you try to hold yourself so high." Naruto pouted, scratching the back of his head in thought. He swore he left his froggy wallet somewhere… Oh well, if he couldn't find it, then he had no problem with getting his father to pay for the meal.

"My throne helps with that."

"God, Dad, leave the jokes to me alright."

"Then I'm guessing that leaves me with paying breakfast, huh?" the older blonde cocked an eyebrow, mirroring Naruto's mischievous grin.

"Yup! Come on, if we don't get there now the best stools will be taken!"

+Eclipse+

Breakfast had been exactly how Naruto thought it would – loud and fun! Between him and his father, both men ate around ten to fourteen bowls a piece. It started out with one blonde ordering a bowl, making the other blonde feel like they had to be another bowl in response. Soon enough, it started to turn into a competition with who could finish their bowl off faster than the other one. Since there were so many ties, Naruto and Minato had to keep eating bowl after bowl until they were satisfied with the results.

So far, Minato had won, but Naruto was determined to beat his old man if it killed him!

"I'm pretty sure he cheated." Naruto yawned, lying flat on his back to look up at the clouds. His father had to leave all too soon, much to his dismay, because he had some kingly duties to do. Naruto made his father swear up and down that tonight they'd be able to have some time together, just the two of them.

A pinky promise was the last connection the two shared before his father was risked away into the duties of a royal.

"Bah, I'll gladly take the crown and title. It's all the work that comes with it that I'll ditch."

"You sound like a wonderful ruler."

Naruto sat up right at the sudden voice interrupting his self-talk. When had someone walked into the courtyard unnoticed? They had guards positioned at the North, South, West, East and all the directions in-between for what – they called – 'top notch security'. Yeah, obviously that worked wonders seeing as the raven was able to come in undetected.

Strangely enough, Naruto didn't feel the least bit surprised to find Sasuke there, in front of him, after two years of separation. All the dreams that weren't revolved around the mysterious raven and Kyuubi involved him and Sasuke enjoying time together like the best friends he wished they could be. He knew nothing about the stranger cloaked in black with eyes red like blood, but that didn't stop his heart from wanting to connect with the raven the instant they met all those years ago.

Smiling softly, Naruto tackled the raven to the ground in a bear hug. The raven yowled in protest, but he wasn't making any efforts to push the blonde off, so that was a plus. Giggling, Naruto flashed a smile that truly could dull the sun, blue eyes twinkling in delight, as he stared down at his long lost friend.

"You shouldn't talk to your prince like that."

Sasuke scoffed, pushing Naruto off so he could actually breathe without the added weight pressed against his chest. Although there was a strange, pleasant feeling of having a body compressed with his.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're a long shot away of telling anyone what to do. Let alone me."

"Pfft, I'll be able to change that, no problem!"

"Is that so?" Sasuke cocked his head in amusement. The two were easily slipping into friendly banter once more, just like they had two years ago. Time had separated them longer than either had wished, but the affects of coming back together was strong, prominent, and neither one knew what to do with such feelings welling up inside of them.

"Of course," Naruto replied haughtily, a grin painted across his face. "You came for me, didn't you? That shows your loyalty."

"Or I could have been bored and decided to seek some entertainment, Dobe."

"Hey, what the heck is with the nickname?" the blonde grabbed a handful of grass and threw it towards the raven, snorting superiorly at the look of annoyance that spread across the raven's face. "That's what you get, Teme!"

"So it's suddenly okay for you to call me names, but when I do it it's a sin?" Sasuke feigned the expression of a man who had just got his pride wounded. Naruto's expression didn't budge a bit. "You give new meaning to the word 'hypocrite'." The raven smirked, retaliating Naruto's attack with one of his own. This time, he scooped up two handfuls of grass and shoved one in Naruto's face while the other he put down Naruto's shirt.

It was such a childish action, something that, on a normal basis, Sasuke would never do. Naruto was anything but normal. He had the strange ability to bring out the child in Sasuke; the one he had to keep hidden from the world he called 'Home'. With Naruto, he felt the chains that repressed him become lighter than air, disappearing with the wind along with his horrible, stoic façade.

Naruto stuck his tongue out in disgust. The grass was sticking to his grin, it was so gross! Groaning, he tried to shake up the pieces of grass Sasuke had shoved out of his throat while attempting to lose the weird taste of grass in his mouth.

"Dude, I'm going to be tasting grass for the next week!"

Sasuke shrugged, not really caring about the matter. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the raven, attempting to bore all his irritated feelings into the raven's skull. When nothing was blowing up into flames, or Sasuke making any other indication that he was going to continue with their argument, Naruto flopped onto the ground, lying on his belly.

The cool, spring air caressed the raven's and the blonde's faces, leaving a pleasant tickle in its wake. Nature was in harmony at the moment; grass moved in time with the wind, dandelion fuzzies floated in the breeze, and the clouds rolled across the sky to reveal the welcoming rays of sun.

"Ne… Sasuke…" Naruto asked after a few moments of silence. He never liked the silence that filled in-between conversations at times. It always gave him the need to say something extra to fill in the void.

"Hn." Sasuke opened one, red eye looking at the blonde to the side. Naruto's nervous tension was radiating off of him like horrible body odor. The raven scowled slightly, whatever Naruto had to say or ask he could just say it without all the indecisiveness. "What is it?"

"Well… I wanted to know what your country is like." Blue eyes sparkled with curiosity and the enjoyment of learning something new. "I've always wanted to know, so I could come visit you some time. Is your country big or small? What's your ruler like? What do you guys do for fun?"

Sasuke couldn't help but laugh, truly, out right laugh at how enthusiastic Naruto was learning about his country. The laughter traveled through his system like a virus, causing his stomach to ache, his eyes to yell up in tears, and his heart felt lighter than it had in years.

Naruto pouted, glaring at the raven before punching him in the arm. "I'm being serious here, Teme!"

"I wasn't laughing at you, Dobe." Sasuke wiped stray tears away from his face as he tried to gather up the lost pieces of his composure. "I'm just surprised to see your interest in my country, as all."

"Oh… So, are you gonna tell me or not?"

"I was thinking of keeping you in suspense—"

"You better freakin' not, Sasuke!"

"—But I suppose I'll just have to tell you all about my boring country." A small smile tugged Sasuke's lips, completely unnoticeable unless you were staring right into his face, as he watched Naruto get into Indian style, fully intent on hearing what the raven had to say. Sasuke truly considered what he should and should not reveal to the blonde about his country. He had no idea if the blonde knew about the ugly relations between the Soleil Kingdom and the Luna Empire. If he led on that he was actually the prince of the Soleil's Kingdom's enemy country…

Sasuke shook his head away from his thoughts. The raven didn't want to think about seeing Naruto's back turned on him out of hatred and disgust.

"My country… is a little west of yours, actually. We have a monarchy, sort of like yours, although I can't say our royal family is well liked. Our country is constantly caught in internal conflict. There have been talks about a rebellion breaking out, but the number of supporters the king has outweighs the number of those who oppose the government." The raven released a sigh he had no idea he was holding. Memories of battles he had to witness between his own people sent cold shivers up and down his spine. The façade that there was peace in his country was slowly wearing away.

"Oh wow…" Naruto was dumbfounded, for a lack of better words. He's heard about civil conflicts, where people would fight against their government, but he never thought he'd actually be able to hear the accounts of it from someone who actually experienced such a thing. "Have you ever been caught up in a fight before…?"

"Luckily I haven't. Although there have been a few close calls…"

The blonde gulped audibly, regretting bringing up anything about Sasuke's country. Tension was thick in the air, so thick you could have cut it in half with a knife if you wished. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have brought it up."

The raven shook his head, a ghost of a smile flickered on his lips. "It doesn't really matter to me. All countries have their problems. Some tend to be more of an issue than others, but it's nothing a lot of time and agreements can't fix." He shrugged off the matter, ignoring how false his own words sounded to him. "On the bright side though, at nights when the full moon is out… you can see the brightest stars around."

"Seriously?" Naruto's eyes widened like saucers. The topic of stars had always fascinated him ever since he was a little boy. Sadly, though, due to his country's background the daylight held more beauty than the nighttime. So being able to point out constellations in the sky, or see the planets – anything astrological, was a rarity.

"Hn," Sasuke nodded. "It's like the whole galaxy was painted up in the sky by one, huge, artist. You can see all the individual planets, and the stars come out to dance; making up images that extend as far as your imagination." An eerie sense of peace washed over him as the images he stored away in his mind of the nighttime sky in his kingdom started to reel out like a movie strip. "It's a beautiful sight…"

"I'm so jealous…" Naruto let out in a whisper. The way Sasuke described the beauty of nighttime in his country made things more vivid for the blonde. He had the picture of stars dancing, twirling, having fun in their huge playground engrained in his mind. "I want to come visit your country some day."

Sasuke smiled, opening his mouth up to respond when a voice cut him off.

"Naruto, there you are!" Minato had a smile that spread from ear to ear on his face as he walked towards his son. He stopped in mid-stride, though, when he saw the other boy lying next to his son. "Ah, it seems like you've already met Sasuke-kun."

"You know Sasuke, Dad?" Alright, Naruto was horribly bewildered at why his father was being so calm about Sasuke in his courtyard unannounced; as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have a complete stranger spend time with your son. He turned to Sasuke for help, only to receive a shrug in response. "You're some help!" he spat out.

"Your father and brother have been looking for you, Sasuke. I know you're at the age when you want to let go of your parent's hands and walk on your own, but you should really tell them when you're about to head off by yourself."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, "I told Itachi where I was going. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't tell father to get a rise out of him."

Minato chuckled, feeling instant empathy for the father of two boys. That's why he only had one child to deal with.

"Oi, Dad, you know about Sasuke being here?"

Minato nodded, "I invited his family after all."

"Eh?" Alright, now Naruto was just lost in general. His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. The dots weren't connecting at all. "Why would you invite them? Are they important or something?"

"I guess it's my fault for not telling you in the first place." The older blonde scratched the back of his head sheepishly, figuring out a way to put what he was about to say in simpler terms. "Simply putting it, Sasuke's father is the king of the Luna Empire. Just now, we were going over the new peace treaty between our two kingdoms."

… The dots were finally being connected.

"Wait, so that means Sasuke's a prince, right?" With each new dot being connected, another light bulb went off in Naruto's head.

"He's third in line in the throne behind his brother, if you wanted the actual specifics."

Naruto shot a glare Sasuke's way, wanting to beat the kid to a bloody pulp for not telling him anything in the first place. Sure, it was their first meeting in two years, but couldn't he have told him this sooner? A simple 'Oh, by the way I'm the prince of the Luna Empire, your country's enemy. Wanna be friends?' would have been nice!

"And you never told me, why, Sasuke?"

Sasuke merely shrugged, smirking out of pure amusement on the look of dramatic rage sprayed across the blonde's face. Really, it wasn't that big of a deal since he wouldn't be accepting the title of king anytime soon. He was basically the shadow following after his brother's shadow until it was his turn to rule the kingdom. Yes, he was proud of his strong lineage and what it entailed to be an Uchiha, but throwing in mindless information like he was third in line for the throne would have been pointless.

"Answer me, Uchiha!"

"You never asked, Dobe."

And that was that.

Tell me what you guys think so far! If anything's confusing, I'll be happy to elaborate :D.

Next update shall be on Friday :D. Lmfao, unless I feel like being generous.. again o.o.

Till next time :D.