"This is a dream. This isn't... It's not real..."

"Well? Aren't you going to say hello to your Otou-chan?" He asked, lips curling back in a smirk.

Yumiryo and I both stiffened, her in shock and me in horror. My jaw unhinged and I felt bile begin to rise in my throat. I fought it down, snapping my mouth closed. His smirk didn't waver in the least, if anything it grew wider than before. I watched as Yumiryo opened her mouth, round eyes staring into mine.

"We look more alike then I thought," He mused, "You've got my hair and eyes. Lucky you, huh?"

"P-Please, stop," I whispered, no begged, "J-Just let us go."

"I can't do that, use your head Noriko," He sighed, giving his own a shake, "I already killed one of your squad men. I'm officially an enemy of Suna now. I can't leave her alive."

Without warning he slashed the blade across Yumiryo's neck. When I saw no blood at first, I prayed he did this to scare us but her eyes widened considerably, mouth parting in surprise. Blood spilled like a waterfall from the tiny slice, soaking her tan vest a dark black. My father released his hold on her and Yumiryo took a staggered step forward. She didn't even take another before her body fell forward, collapsing with a loud 'thunk'.

"I'm slightly disappointed. I thought for sure she would put up a better fight than that man," He said, dropping the katana, "He was very honorable though. Refused to give away your position, not that I needed it."

His words barely registered in my head as I continued to stare at Yumiryo. The blood from her neck began to seep across the ground and without thinking my body reacted. I ran across the short space, hands already glowing white.

"I-I can't let her die for me!" My mind screamed as I dropped to my knees beside her.

My shaking hands reached out slowly, ever so carefully turning her on her back. I froze again as her lifeless eyes stared up into mine. I bit my lip to break the spell, reaching forward to place my hands over the wound. A pale hand grasped my wrist tightly and I jerked away from his touch, skin burning. My own eyes stared back at me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," He scolded as if I was a child, "I made sure it's something you wouldn't be able to fix. Too long and deep. You'd die with her."

"W-Why?" I asked, eyes wide.

I was vaguely away that tears had began to stream down my face. I wanted to wipe them away but I couldn't. I couldn't force myself to blink or dry them. He continued stare at me before sighing. He ran a hand through his short white hair, gracefully straightening back to stand. My eyes followed his movements in morbid fascination.

"Jeez. I knew I should have raised you myself," He said offhandedly, "I already told you. I'm Suna's enemy now. I couldn't just leave witnesses alive."

"I'm Sunagakure no Noriko," I said furiously from the ground, "I'm you're enemy! Why aren't you saying you're going to kill me!"

"You're my daughter," He shrugged as if it explained everything, "Do you want to die so badly?"

"I..."

"I don't. Not until you answer me..."

"You don't have to answer me. I already know you don't. You're too curious." He laughed lightly.

"I'm going to kill you!" I growled, grabbing Yumiryo's fallen katana as I jumped to my feet.

"No you won't." He said evenly, eyes daring me to prove him wrong.

"You don't know me!" I shouted, pointing the blade at him.

"But I know me. We're a lot alike," He grinned, spreading his arms wide, "Go ahead, prove me wrong. I won't stop you."

The katana suddenly felt heavy in my grasp and my arm shook uncontrollably. With anger, with hurt, with everything. My arm dropped to my side, tip of the katana dragging across the grass. He smirked again, lowering his arms as well. I dropped my gaze to ground.

"B-Bastard." I whispered hoarsely, fingers slacking.

"Such crude language for such a young girl. What would Hanako say?" He asked.

"Don't say her name! You have no right to defile her memory!" I shouted angrily.

"Stop shouting Noriko. You're acting childish, act like the ANBU you are," He chastised, "No daughter of mine will act like this."

"I'm not your daughter! You're not my father! You're the reason my Kaa-san is dead! You're the reason I...!"

"Go on." He urged calmly.

"The reason I've... Suffered..." I said quietly.

"No."

"No? You're going to deny that! You killed her! What you did! That's why she's dead!" I growled in disbelief.

"I did no such thing." He said, taking a step closer to me.

I took a step away, raising the katana quickly. To my surprise he didn't stop and soon enough the tip was pressed against his chest lightly. I didn't know what horrified me more. The fact that he seemed utterly relaxed with the situation or the fact that I wasn't skewering him through.

"I'm not saying that I'm a good man," He continued, giving a small grin, "Actually. Kumogakure had every reason to brand me as a missing-nin. But I can promise I had nothing to do with Hanako's death."

"Yo-You raped her... That's why she was murdered..." I said quietly.

I jumped as he threw his head back in wild laughter. I growled in anger, courage to kill him rushing back. I leaned forward, pressing the tip of the blade against his chest again. When it broke the material of his shirt he stopped laughing but his humorous grin didn't drop.

"So that's what they've told you?" He asked, chuckling again, "People these days. No one likes to tell the truth."

"W-What're you trying... To say...?"

"I understand that you probably won't believe me, I guess I wouldn't believe me either," He joked, "But I've got no reason to lie to you Noriko. Not after you've come all this way to see me."

"This isn't a social visit." I hissed.

"I know. But I can dream right?" He asked rhetorically, "You're here for answers and to kill me. Let's just put off the killing until later, ne? I'll answer your questions first."

"Then explain!" I demanded, shoulders shaking with rage.

"I'll start with Hanako," He said, taking a step back, "It's like I said. I had nothing to do with her "murder" and I did not "rape" her. She was more than willingly."

In blind furry I swung the katana at him, missing by a hairsbreadth. He dodged my rapid slashes with ease, jumping a few feet away. I followed after as I continued my barrage, each miss making me angrier. He dropped to the ground, sweeping his leg to knock mine out from under me. I quickly stuck the katana in the ground, flipping over it and landed a few feet away. I dropped into a fighting stance, pulling three shuriken from their pouch.

"BASTARD!" I screamed, throwing the deadly weapons towards him.

He dodged two, catching the third on his pointer finger. It spun down the appendage quickly, coming full stop as it reached his hand. I gave a smirk, tugging the wire in my left hand tightly. It gave a 'twang' as it was pulled taunt, catching him in it's snare. My smugness was cut short as he 'poofed' away in a cloud of smoke.

"Substitution!"

"Not bad." He called from behind me.

I whirled around to face him, giving him a heated glare. He was still grinning, casually leaning against a nearby tree.

"Don't mock me!" I shouted, balling my fingers into fists.

"I was praising you!" He defended, sounding childish.

"I don't want your praise!" I shot back, launching for another attack.

"I can't believe myself. I can't believe I... I did that... Thinking about Noriko..." Gaara thought, keeping the blush off his face, "If she ever finds out... I won't think about it..."

"And- Kazekage-sama, are you listening?" Ryuuno spoke suddenly, breaking Gaara from his thoughts.

Gaara gave him a slight nod and the Councilman sighed, giving a slight shake of his head.

"You've been increasingly distracted, Kazekage-sama. Perhaps we should postpone this meeting until noon?" He proposed lightly.

"I'm fine." Gaara said firmly.

"Then at least allow me to call a recess for the Council. Noon, after lunch?" He asked.

Gaara gave a slight shrug and the members of Council bowed as they filed from the room. He frowned slightly, knowing he should probably head back to his office to work. As he exited the room he was greeted by his new ANBU escort. The man was stotic and serious about his job. Completely non-Noriko in every way. It made Gaara want her back that much more.

"Soon." Gaara reminded himself quietly.

"Are you done yet?"

I panted heavily, hands resting on my knees to catch my breath as I shot the man a ferocious glare. He raised his hands in mock surrender, effectively making me angrier.

"I should have trained more! Harder! I should have slept more! Tama... He was right!" I cursed inwardly, forcing myself to stand straight.

"If we are done then let's talk finally, no fists please." He grinned, sitting criss-cross on the ground.

I gave him a disbelieving look.

"This is all too strange. I still feel like it's a dream."

"Come on, sit down already. You've worn yourself out." He said, patting the ground near him.

"You're insane," I muttered darkly, choosing to sit where I stood, "You kill off my squad, you killed my Kaa-san and you act as if nothing is fucking wrong. I will kill you."

"Well not in that state you aren't!" He chuckled but sudden looked serious for the first time, "You want answers. I'll give them to you. Wait until I'm finished before you try to kill me again."

"How can I trust anything you say?" I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You can't. Just listen and then decide."

My eyes widened fractionally as I remembered my last dream in the confusing white room. How the little girl version of myself said I had to decide on something.

"Was that the meaning? Am I going to have to choose...? How did she... How did I know-I, UGH! I'm so confused! I'm so... So... Lost..."

"Are you ready?" He asked.

I gave him a hesitant nod and he gave me a sort of half smile.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning by telling you what kind of man I am, err, used to be? I'm still the same, I think... But I'll explain about before I became a missing-nin. I'm sure you want to hear about your Otou-chan, ne?"

I shot him a look that said 'get on with the fucking story', to which he merely grinned.

"Right, okay. So before I became a missing-nin I was a Special Jounin in Kumo, which I'm sure is in the Bingo Book. Kumo and Suna weren't on good terms back then, practically in the midst of battle... Still not very friendly now... Anyway, I was given many missions, our Kekkei Genkai being particularly useful in battle situations-"

"What? In battle? But it's a practically worthless Kekkei Genkai." I grumbled, still uncomfortable with this.

"I'm just as insane as he is for talking with him..."

"It is not!" He bit out, "You just don't know how to use it. I can teach-"

"I'm so fucking confused. About all of this. Everything! I feel like I'm going insane! This is too much for me to handle!" I growled, fingers tugging at my hair.

"Noriko, stop!" He demanded, causing me to flinch, "Just let me finish, please."

I stayed silent so he began to speak again.

"As I was saying, I was chosen for many missions and that is how I met Hanako," He gave a small chuckle, "She was beautiful and strong. She ended up capturing me and my squad without casualties. She was also unexpectedly gentle. I won't bore you with the details but I ended up falling for her. She was pretty resistant at first, ignoring me and assigning other's to watch me but she came around eventually."

"If... Why were you kept alive?" I asked, feeling guiltily interested.

"This is probably a lie. Don't forget that."

"We had Intel that they wanted. Of course, being honorable shinobi, we gave nothing away and Suna decided to keep us as hostages. In case Kumo ever wanted to negotiate. Which was a stupid idea. In Kumo we're trained that if taken as a hostage, suicide is our only option," At this he grimaced slightly, "But if I'm honest, I think it had to do with Hanako. She was such a caring woman."

I almost smiled at his tone, before mentally slapping myself.

"He has manipulation down to an art."

"Anyway, back to my main point," He said seriously, "One day, to my surprise, she freed us."

"What?" I hissed, "She... She freed you? She wouldn't have! She-She would have been killed!"

"I know it's pretty hard to believe. I found it hard to believe as well but it's the truth. She set us free and wasn't found out. At least, not at first," He mused quietly, "When my squad and myself arrived back in Kumo we were given immediate orders to kill her and her squad."

"But you... They said the man she was married to..."

"All lies." He waved off.

"So then you killed her?" I asked, anger flaring dangerously.

"Don't be stupid, Noriko," He snorted, "I already told you I had fallen for her. She is the reason why I became a missing-nin."

"The reason...?"

"I accepted the mission but before our squads could clash again I killed my own."

"..."

"I met Hanako in secret and told her what I had done. She wasn't very happy with me, I can assure you that. Broke one of my arms," He said, rubbing at his left arm slightly, "She healed me after but it still hurt."

At this he gave a light laugh but I didn't find anything he said funny. I was in shock and my body was more tense than it had ever been.

"I didn't see her after that night but I tried to keep tabs on her. That's how, around 9 months later, I found out that she had given birth. I was shocked, even more so when I learned that the baby had white hair and golden eyes," He gave me a half smile, "I'm happy Hanako named you Noriko. It's a fitting name for my daughter. "Law and Order". I think she did it as a joke. Everything about how you came to be was anything but lawful and orderly."

"Then... I don't understand... Who... How did... She's dead." Was all I could say, heart beating heavily in my chest.

"Yes," He frowned, "After you were born, they must have pieced together that she was the one who let me escape. She was sentenced to death."

"Congratulations, Hanako-san, you have a baby girl." The medic-nin smiled, handing the woman a small bundle.

"Arigato..." She murmured, cuddling the baby close to her chest.

"Have you decided on a name?" The medic asked.

"Noriko." Hanako said quietly, gently moving the blanket to see her child.

"Noriko it is then."

Hanako gave a small smile as the medic left the room. Her eyes softened even more as she stared at Noriko. A small tuft of white hair graced her tiny head and her face was calm as she slept. Hanako placed her lips against the baby's forehead in a soft kiss, forcing herself not to clutch the baby too tightly.

"Noriko," She murmured as she pulled away, "My darling Noriko."

Noriko didn't stir and Hanako gave another small smile.

"Noriko, Kaa-chan's darling little Noriko."

It was quiet in the hospital room but Hanako could feel the chakra of the shinobi outside.

"Noriko, Kaa-chan doesn't have much time," She whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks, "I hope you don't hate me, Noriko. Kaa-chan loves you very much..."

The door was opened and two men dressed in the Jounin uniform stepped inside. Hanako didn't look at them, keeping her eyes on her sleeping baby. They took another step closer and Hanako's grip on the blanket tightened.

"You know why we're here." One of the men spoke up.

"Hai..." Hanako said softly, finally turning tear stained eyes towards them.

"Why did you do it Hanako? Why did you betray your village?" The other demanded angrily.

"Not so loud, please. Noriko is sleeping." She said quietly.

"You and that bastard child are going to be put to death."

Hanako's eyes widened in surprise and her head snapped around towards them.

"This child hasn't done anything!" She said desperately, "Please don't punish her for what I have done!"

"It isn't up to us," The taller one growled, "We're under the Kazekage's orders. You should have thought about your child before committing such a crime, Hanako."

"Please," She begged, "Don't kill her. She doesn't know anything. She doesn't need to know anything. She's not even a day old."

The men didn't say anything, instead reaching forward to grab the baby from her arms. Hanako tried to fight them off but couldn't. As one restrained her the other pulled the baby into his arms. Hanako thrashed against the one holding her, trying to reach for her child. The sleeping child began to wail at the noise, face scrunching up. The Jounin holding the child flinched slightly.

"Shut up, bastard child!" He shouted, going to cover it's face with the blanket.

"Don't! Stop! That will kill her!" Hanako cried out, hand reaching towards the pair.

"Then stop." The other demanded.

Hanako's hand dropped instantly and she hung her head. The baby continued to wail, small fists stretched upwards. He gave a grunt, holding the child out to her mother. Hanako quickly pulled the baby to her chest, giving Noriko soothing words and comfort.

"Shut the baby up and follow us."

"Kazekage-sama, I beg you, please. You have children of your own. Don't kill mine." Hanako pleaded, tiny baby still clutched in her arms.

"You're in no position to ask me anything." The Kazekage hissed.

"I'm not asking you for me," Hanako said quietly, "I'm begging you for the sake of my daughter."

"It's a bastard child. An enemy's child."

"She could be useful to Suna!" Hanako said, "She could become a great shinobi, if given the chance!"

"Suna already has many fine shinobi and will continue to, without an enemy's spawn." He said firmly.

"What if she has her fathers Kekkei Genkai?" She questioned desperately, "It would be a tool for Suna. She could have it! You won't know if you kill her! And Kumogakure won't know! She can become a secret weapon."

'I'm sorry, my darling Noriko.'

The Kazekage seemed to give the idea deep thought, leaning back in his chair slightly. When he didn't answer right away, Hanako prayed that she had won. Prayed that she had saved the life of her only child.

"You are still to be put to death." The Kazekage finally spoke.

Hanako's tears were of joy as she bowed deeply to the man.

"Arigato, Kazekage-sama." She whispered.

"I'm not doing it for you or that bastard child. I'm doing this for the future of Suna." He replied coolly.

"Understood, Kazekage-sama."

'Don't hate me, my darling Noriko. Kaa-chan loves you very much.'

"Death..." I whispered quietly, arms hugging my knees.

"Hai. Death." My father repeated.

My heart pounded painfully against my ribs and I struggled to breath.

"I'm not sure how you were left alive. Hanako's will no doubt but I am beyond happy that you lived," He said quietly, "You have your mothers face. Such a beautiful face. And the shape of her eyes. I wish I could have taken you when I found out that they let you live but you were always heavily guarded. The Kazekage probably knew I would want to take you-"

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" I shouted, jumping to my feet, "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU'RE LYING TO ME! You're trying... I don't know what you're trying to do! But you're lying to me! You have to be lying to me!"

My father stood as well, shaking his head and I growled, angry at the action.

"I'm not lying to you Noriko," He said softly, "I know this must be hard. But I'm telling you the truth. It's your decision to trust me or not."

"Like I said, you haven't decided yet. I can't explain anything, since you and I are the same."

My head began to feel light as my dream rushed back to me and I clutched at my chest. My breaths came out in heavy, forced pants and I was aware that these were the starting signs of a panic attack. I didn't know when I fell to the ground but like a far off cry I heard my father calling my name. His golden eyes searched mine with worry. That was the last thing I saw before everything went black.