Author's Notes: Another chapter complete. It's not as long, but a lot happens and it's very late, so my brain shut down before I could add anything further. So enjoy the cookies. Please review.

Chapter 11

Miranda's eyes traveled up the length of the door and back down again to the lower right hand corner. The small picture had grown, stretched out further. The edges still blurry, but the rest had sharpened exposing more colors and lines. Unrecognizable as anything specific. She crouched down and ran her finger over it gently, listening to the voice still echoing in the distance. Muffled by the thick door between her and something she was driven to discover.

Standing up, she quickly took a step back. Her eyes wide as she was overcome with a strange mixture of excitement and fear. The picture in the corner started to shine brighter with every breath she took and her eyes were glued to a pin of light that moved up along the edge of the door as if it was being drawn by an invisible hand. When it had completed its journey, the door was framed in a light shining so bright Miranda wondered why it didn't hurt to look at it.

A growl rumbled behind her and she realized she couldn't move when she knew her body should have jumped in fear but continued to stand perfectly still. She couldn't turn to search for the monster she could feel coming closer. The pounding in her chest was the only evidence of her fear. Her arms remained unmoving at her sides even as the terrifying feeling of the monster grew around her, threatening to swallow her whole.

'Taijitu!' a low guttural voice vibrated around her.

'Please...help me...please!' her mind screamed.

Naruto raised his hand high above them, glowing red claws extended out further from his hand like sharpened bladed as he stared down at the girl turned away from him in terror. Four tails swished violently, "Taijitu!" he growled swinging his arm.

The energy around Miranda surged and the frame of light flashed even brighter. Tiny pins of light streamed out from the edges, covering the black door with lines that swirled and flowed and stretched across its surface, outlining the hidden mural. But Miranda only had a single heart beat in which to take in the scene amazingly detailed by the lines of bright gold before they pulsed, engulfing her and the dark void.

Suddenly, Miranda's eyes snapped open and locked with Naruto's raging red, everything froze. Kyuubi's claws embedded in her shoulder. But she showed no pain in her mismatched eyes.

'How long has it been since I've looked into those eyes?' Kyuubi growled in frustration, 'How long has it been since your kind were scattered across time and space?'

Then, as quickly as it had stopped, timed began to move again. Miranda's body crumpled to the ground unconscious just as Kakashi turned, Naruto slamming into his chest and sending them flying from the force of the impact.

"Hiashi-sama, we all felt it. Each time it has occurred. You can not deny..."

"I haven't denied anything. But what you suggest just cant be possible."

"What about the stories?"

"Or the stone?"

The elders fell silent as the door slid open. Hiashi looked up and motioned the servant to enter. The woman shuffled over next to him and bowed before kneeling down and placing a very large black box in front of him. They all waited for the woman to leave, the door sliding closed again, before a very old Hyuuga spoke. His voice cracked, and his hand shook as he sipped his tea.

"The stone is only half of our history. The stories altered over many generations to entertain children."

Hiashi ran his hand over the kanji, then touched the seals on either side. They all heard the soft click as it unlocked and watched as he slide the lid off and set it on the table. One by one, he removed each ancient scroll and laid them reverently on the table next to the box. Hidden under the scrolls and wrapped in a delicate cloth, tied with silk strings, lay a kimono.

Hiashi untied the strings and gently pulled the cloth aside to reveal a large family seal. A black circle containing two shapes resembling large tomoe's, one red and one white. Two halves of a whole. Two clans separated by time and space. By the arrogance of a clan who's only evidence of existence lay in the contents of a large black box and a stone.

Hiashi lifted his eyes to the large rectangular stone braced against the far wall. The edges eroded. The mural faded. On the left side, one half of a family seal.

"She will remember eventually."

"As it should be."

"But what of the Kyuubi? The seal wasn't meant to be broken so soon. She was suppose to have more time to learn, to grow."

"It is a burden she will have to carry. The Kyuubi can not harm her."

"Even the Fourth's seal wasn't strong enough to contain its wrath when it realized who she was."

"That is his weakness, not ours. He was a fool to believe..."

"Don't. He was a good man and a powerful shinobi. We do not have the luxury of looking down our noses at those who are not a part of our clan when there are so few of us left."

"It wouldn't be so if the others hadn't decided to stay."

"No. It is so because we allowed ourselves the arrogance to believe we had surpassed all others. We defied the natural laws of the universe and we paid the price with the blood our of clan. We are not Gods."

"You two have forgotten the purpose of our continued existence. The others chose to stay for the same reasons we chose to leave. To undo what was done."

"But that is no longer possible."

"No. The child is our only hope now."

"We sent her back too soon."

"She needed time."

"I find that ironic given we are masters of time and space."

"We are no longer masters of anything. Our time is ending."

"But to place so much faith in one child."

"A child that shouldn't exist."

"Enough. You two are starting to remind me of the jinchuriki and that Uchiha."

Miranda rolled her eyes, opening and closing them as the room and sounds slowly began to penetrate her mind. She felt light headed and nauseous. And her body ached, but nothing like the pain in her shoulder. She could make out a soft glow near her face as things started to become clearer.

The white ceiling came into focus first. Then a face hovering nearby. The woman smiled down at her as she turned her head towards the soft glow. She looked familiar. Lifting her free hand to wipe away whatever was tickling her face, she felt a tug and glanced down to see several thin clear tubes.

"Ugh! Not here again." her voice cracked and her throat felt raw and dry.

"Your becoming a regular. Must be something in the I.V's" Kakashi eyed the bag hanging nearby then grinned down at her.

"What now?" she tried again to get at the tickling sensation on her face, felt the tug, then realized it had nothing to do with the tubes as she looked down at her hand. A white strap was wrapped around her wrist and attached to the side of the bed.

Jerking her arm, she ignored the pain in her shoulder as panic took over and she began tugging with both arms, "Why? Why? Let me go! Let me go!"

Miranda fought against the hands trying to hold her down and watched as they turned to slugs and multiplied, threatening to smother her. Jerking her head up, the door burst open and a large fiery face filled the room with red light and heat, "Taijitu!"

"Hana!"

Screaming, Miranda sat up fighting against the hands, sweat making her gown stick to her skin, hair stuck to her face as her eyes darted around the room searching for the monster. It was dark except for the light coming in under the door of her hospital room. Yugao released her arms and cupped her face, forcing Miranda to look at her, "Hana! It was just a bad dream. Your safe. It's ok."

Miranda stared blankly into the purple haired kunoichi's face, the shock of the nightmare slowly fading although her heart was still pounding hard against her chest. Yugao slowly released her and tried to brush her wet hair back as Miranda looked at both arms, searching for the tubes and restraints. She found nothing. Then looking back up at Yugao, she watched her sit on the edge of the bed, still trying to push back the wet strands, "What happened?" she croaked.

"You don't remember?" Yugao asked, handing her a small cup of water.

Miranda drank the water greedily and shook her head, handing the cup back.

Yugao searched her face for a moment. They had decided that if she didn't remember, they wouldn't tell her exactly what had happened. Mostly because not everyone knew about the Kyuubi sealed within Naruto, but also because no one actually knew what had happened after he attacked Yugao. Naruto was their only witness and he was still unconscious.

So what was left?

"You were in an accident. An explosion in the apartment building. They think it was a leak, probably gas." she lied grabbing the plastic pitcher off the table and refilling the cup. After all, the girl would want to know why they had conveniently moved while she was unconscious. "What is the last thing you do remember?" she asked handing her the cup.

Miranda gulped down the water, then taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. She was getting tired of not having any memories of anything. Especially things that were important. Like say, her whole life up till she came to Konoha or when she got caught in an explosion. What would she forget next? Yugao? Naruto? Konoha?

"What about the dream. Do you want to talk about it?"

Miranda shook her head, staring at the door.