Colors of Life and Death series
Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21
Chapter 4
I would like to take a moment to dedicate this chapter to Michael Lowe. He is one of my readers who is in the army and has been called to duty. I pushed to get this chapter up because he wanted to read one more before he shipped out. Michael, I was deeply touched by your letter and wish you the best of luck. This chapter is for you.
Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!
He peered out over the village from his perch atop the huge Kazekage complex. He'd just heard the news that there were some visitors headed towards Suna and he was watching the entrance with great interest. Or at least, inwardly he had great interest—outwardly he was the usual, stoic shell that was the norm for Subaku No Gaara. "So...Uzumaki Naruto...eh?" The wind swirled his hair about as the sky turned golden due to the sun beginning its daily descent. He squinted as eight silhouetted figures appeared at the gates—one of them having an unmistakable crop of spiky hair. "Perhaps I will finally have my questions answered."
The place was enormous...and it annoyed the hell out of Naruto. "When I become Hokage I am so making the tower bigger" he thought defiantly as he stalked inside behind Kakashi. He didn't notice the pair of icy teal eyes that watched him very closely.
"What is your secret?" Gaara thought as he watched Naruto, who was very energetically saying something to his jounin instructor for which he was quickly punched on top on the head by his pink-haired team mate. The yell of 'BAKA!' that followed caused Gaara to cock an eyebrow in amusement, which was currently the closest thing he had to a laugh. "I know you are like me. Somehow..."
The room was fairly bland; apparently, the Kazekage had little interest in decorations. He sat in the lotus position at the far end of the room. He was thin, yet healthy in build, and of average height. His short, dark brown hair had bits of silver scattered throughout and his eyes were a dark hazel. Anbu guards flanked him on both sides. "Welcome, Kakashi, Kurenai," he said as he nodded to each of them. He waved a graceful hand at a row of pillows on the floor in front of him. "Please, sit." The Konoha jounin nodded respectfully and complied.
After studying them for a moment, he let a polite smile slide onto his angular face. "As you know, we have reason to believe the Akatsuki may pay us a visit in the near future. Naturally, I find this a bit unnerving while most of my higher ranked shinobi are absent—which is why you are here."
"Have you decided where we will be posted?" Kurenai asked.
"Indeed I have." The Kazekage unrolled a scroll, which had a map of Suna on it. "Kakashi and Kurenai—your stations will be here and here," he said, pointing to the giant guard outpost the made up the front wall of the village. "You children," he said with a bit of disdain, "will be in these towers." Several round spots on the map indicated the location of the lookout towers.
Two Chuunin entered the room. "Chihoko and Yasuomi will show you to your quarters. You will relieve the Suna shinobi in two hours," said the Kazekage.
The Konoha teams nodded in agreement and stood to leave. As they walked out, however, Kakashi put a hand on Kurenai's shoulder. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."
Kurenai looked confused but nodded anyway. "Okay."
Once the others were gone, Kakashi turned to the Kazekage. "With all due respect, Kazekage-sama—do you have a problem with my students?"
The Kazekage arched an eyebrow slightly. "To be honest with you, Kakashi, I feel a bit slighted that the Godaime sent mere gennin into such a serious situation and I'm not convinced they can do the job asked of them."
Kakashi frowned but it quickly evolved into a smile. "Don't worry, Kazekage-sama. I know these kids. Even though they hold the rank of gennin, four of them have taken on 'S' class missions."
Now both the Kazekage's eyebrows went up. "Then why, pray tell, are they still gennin?"
Kakashi smirked under his mask. "Although they are strong enough to be chuunin, they have yet to develop leadership skills."
"Ah, I see. Then why not simply teach them some?" the Kazekage suggested in a somewhat condescending tone.
"Hm?"
"Teach them some. You are their sensei, are you not?"
Kakashi cocked his head to the side. "True. Although with Naruto..."
"Naruto...Uzumaki Naruto?!" the Kazekage interrupted suddenly.
Kakashi was a bit perturbed. "What about him?"
"Isn't he the Kyuubi's container?!" the Kazekage asked hotly.
"Was," Kakashi corrected. "The Kyuubi is dead. And it wouldn't have mattered either way. The seal was secure. You wouldn't have been in any danger."
The Kazekage calmed down considerably. "My concern was not for myself, but my citizens." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Wait, shouldn't he be dead also if the Kyuubi is gone?"
Kakashi flinched a bit. "There were...unique circumstances."
"How so?"
Kakashi adjusted his headband. "To sum it up...Naruto is now the world's only holder of the niji chakra."
The Kazekage's eyes showed his disbelief. "That's impossible. The niji chakra is only a legend."
Kakashi found this amusing. "Then Naruto is a walking legend."
The Kazekage thought for a moment. "I would like to see this chakra," he said suddenly.
"I'm not going to let anyone turn Naruto into a guinea pig," Kakashi warned.
"Nothing of the sort, Kakashi. However, when someone is told that there is a unicorn in their midst don't you think it natural they would want to see it?"
"Hm. I suppose so—but only if he agrees to show you."
The Kazekage nodded. "Of course."
The Kazekage watched Naruto's chakra in awe. "I never would have believed it, had I not seen it with my own eyes."
Naruto stopped molding chakra and smiled nervously.
The Kazekage put a hand on his shoulder. "You have something amazing there, young man. Be responsible with it," he warned in a kindly way.
Naruto put his hand up in a salute. "Osu! A future Hokage's gotta be responsible, right?" he said with a grin.
The Kazekage cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "Future Hokage, eh?" After staring at the boy for a moment a warm smile graced his features. "Watching you will be interesting." And with that, he walked away.
Naruto sighed again, which severely irritated his tower-mate. "Will you stop that?!" Kiba complained.
Naruto lolled his head backward. "I can't help it. This is boring as hell."
"Look, I'm bored too, but hearing you sigh every five seconds is gonna make me kill myself!" Kiba said loudly.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said sulkily. He looked over the rocky outcroppings at the edge of the village and noticed a certain red-haired ninja watching him from the top of a huge boulder. "What the hell is he staring at me for?" he thought as his eye twitched in irritation. He turned toward Kiba. "I'll be back in a sec."
"What? You're not leaving me with this stupid job by myself."
Naruto stepped up onto the edge of the tower wall. "I'll just be a sec. I saw someone I know," he replied before leaping away.
Kiba glared after his friend, but did not follow. "Damn him."
Gaara's face wore a bored expression as he watched Naruto coming toward him. "Hmpf," he said in curiosity.
"Gaara!" Naruto yelled just before jumping onto the same rock as his target.
Gaara just looked at him. "Hai?"
"Why the heck were you staring at me?" Naruto demanded.
Gaara's eyebrows went up in irritation at the finger that was now rudely pointed at his face. "No particular reason."
Naruto's eye twitched. "You don't just go staring at people for no reason!" he said as he sat down.
"Why are you sitting?" Gaara asked curtly.
"If you have a right to stare at me for no reason then I can sit next to you for no reason!" Naruto retorted.
Gaara sighed and decided to stare at a chipmunk. Of course, Naruto decided this was an invitation to ask what seemed like pointless questions to someone he barely knew. "So...how've you been?"
Gaara looked at him as if he'd just asked him what his underwear size was.
Naruto looked away. "Erm...yeah, so, I was wondering..."
Gaara gave him a quizzical look.
Naruto cleared his throat. "Right...um...I'll just...go..." he said uncomfortably as he stood up.
"What?" Gaara said suddenly.
Naruto looked down at Gaara. "Huh?"
"You were wondering...what?" Gaara asked.
Naruto was a bit perplexed as he sat back down. "I was wondering...if things got better for you."
"What do you mean?" Gaara asked as he looked at the boy next to him.
"I wanted to know if life got better for you after we fought."
Gaara was silent for a moment as he pondered his answer. "Why?"
"Because we're so alike," Naruto answered quietly.
Gaara stared at the boy next to him, wondering just how on Earth he was like this loudmouth. "What do you mean?" he asked with such urgency that it made Naruto flinch.
"It's hard to explain..."
Gaara could take it no longer. "Tell me! Tell me how someone so happy is like me!!" he demanded desperately.
Naruto looked down. "I had a monster inside of me...too."
Gaara's eyes could not have gotten any wider. His expression melted into one of regretful understanding. "I'm...sorry."
"That's okay. I don't blame you. I might've reacted the same way if..." Images of friends and family flashed through Naruto's mind. "...if I hadn't found people who care about me."
"Which of the biju do you carry?" Gaara asked.
"Well, I used to carry the Kyuubi," Naruto carefully replied.
Gaara's eyes widened again and then his expression changed to confusion. "You don't have it anymore? How was it removed without killing you?"
"He wasn't removed. He died. Orochimaru used a seal jutsu to poison his chakra and then he...Let's just say he hurt me bad enough that when Kyuubi tried to heal me it killed him."
Gaara looked at Naruto for a moment as if studying him. "What was your childhood like?" he asked finally.
"Probably pretty close to yours. People hating me like I was the youma I carried, people trying to kill me and make it look like an accident, people...people calling me...monster..." Naruto answered with his head down so that his hair covered his eyes.
Memories of Suna citizens calling him that exact word flooded Gaara's mind. His expression was a mixture of understanding and pain. "Monster—That is a word I know all too well," he said in a harsh whisper.
Naruto looked straight into Gaara's eyes. "No offense, but it kinda scares me to know the other way I coulda turned out," he said sadly.
Gaara closed his eyes. "Understandable."
"That's why I wanna know what your life is like now. I need to know...if I could've been saved," Naruto said quietly.
Gaara's eyes softened a bit in understanding. He allowed himself a small smile. "Yes."
Naruto smiled in relief. "I'm glad."
"There's something I have wanted to say for a long time now." Gaara took a long breath and looked down. "I wanted to thank you. I...owe you a debt...that I don't think I will ever be able to repay."
Naruto smiled. "Nah. Just knowing that I wouldn't have been past hope is good enough for me."
Gaara looked at Naruto quizzically. "You are a strange person."
"Huh?"
"If someone owed me a debt like the one I owe you, I would ask for much more than piece of mind," Gaara answered.
Naruto grinned. "Well how bout you treat me to ramen then?"
Gaara simply sighed and shook his head in defeat. "Fine then. Find me after your shift is over. Everyone in this village knows what I look like, so you shouldn't have a problem."
"Okay. Ja!" Naruto answered with a quick salute before jumping off toward the tower he'd been in previously.
Gaara stared after the blue and green blur for a moment. "Definitely strange."
...TO BE CONTINUED
Hope you guys liked that. Next chappy will have much action. :)
Now, I have a request:
If you are someone who watches only the english dub please do not review trying to correct me on Naruto facts--Especially on subjects such as the translations of jutsus or dattebyo. VIZ screwed up royally on these aspects of the show. Dattebyo does not mean "believe it". Dattebyo means no more than a pirate's "Aaarrg" or an exclamation point. It emphasizes someone's speech in an effort to sound tough. If you watch the show fansubbed (And I say fansubbed because the US subs still use "believe it" -Grumbles-) and you see that I have made a big mistake somewhere please feel free to, politely, correct me.
Ja na, Songbird21