Story's Title: Of Truth and Reality

Author: SchwarzViolet

Rating: PG-13 (coz of later chapters)

Pairings: you'll see later on

Disclaimer: (a tape being played) "I do not own Naruto!"

Uhmm… hi?

Long time no meet!

Actually, I had every intention of just leaving this story to rot out there, hanging… My enthusiasm left me… But someone wrote a review! It was a big surprise for me… and I felt really, really, REALLY guilty…Thanks Gata-chan (whoever you may really be)! You encouraged me to write again after… uhh… months… forgot how many… uhh… whatever! Thanks again!

So… now that I'm back… shan't we move on?

SchwarzViolet

Setsuna's POV

When Kyo-san called me to see my Nori again, I did. It was a very sad memory…

FLASHBACK

"Hikari-chan! Namida-kun!"

They came running to me and I smiled at them.

"Glad that you were able to make it!"

Hikari smiled back. Namida just nodded, greeting me with his eyes.

"Where is he?"

"We have to wait here for Kyo-san. He'll be here soon. The two are just discussing things in Nori's room."

Hikari twirled her short violet hair in her finger and nodded. Namida didn't show any reaction and just stood near his cousin; his white eyes staring at the door.

"How is Nori?" Namida asked.

I looked at him, surprised that he just spoke his first three words in my presence.

Hikari saw the look on my face and laughed quietly.

There suddenly came another voice.

"Ya, Namida's right. How is he?"

We three turned to see more people standing near us.

There stood Chiriko, Shinichi and Iori beaming at us. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Hey there, Iori-pig!"

I stepped forward to Iori, all the while trying to keep a cool expression..

"Hey there, big forehead!"

She also took a step forward and we looked at each other with mock glares, then fondly, before we burst out laughing.

"It's good to see you."

"You, too, Setsuna! You too…"

I nodded and said hi to Shinichi, who lazily greeted back, and Chiriko, who also greeted back, though with a mouth full of chips.

"It seems like we're almost complete… Now we just need… Shinta, Kira, Tae and Len!"

Everybody else nodded.

Suddenly, Hikari looked up and smiled.

"There they are! All four of them."

And, precisely, they came running to us like in a frenzy.

I gazed at the newly-arrived people. They were panting and were obviously tired: Tae's mickey-mouse-hairstyle was disarranged; Len's green suit was crinkled all over; Kira's jacket was off coz he felt warm after running; and Shinta's shades were crooked on his nose.

"Hey, why are you all so out of breath?"

Tae looked at me and grinned, explaining heatedly.

"When you called us to come over coz Nori was awake, we all hurried out of work! We met up at the train station and rushed over here! My god! I can't believe it… Nori's finally awake after 2 days! Where is he? We wanna see him!"

"Whoa! Slow down. No need to worry. We'll see him soon. Just wait for Kyo-san to come and call us!"

The four finally settled down and caught their breath.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Shinichi suggested that we sit down on the chairs. We all agreed and plumped into our seats. By then, we were discussing about many random things already. But of course, Namida stayed quiet as usual… that was, until he asked his question from a while ago, again.

"How is Nori? Did you see him already?"

Sadly, I looked away and tried to control the wave of gloominess that washed over me as I thought back to what Nori called me.

"Something's wrong, am I right?"

I turned to Kira and nodded, biting my lip.

"What is it, Setsuna?"

I refused to meet their eyes as I told them what happened.

"I went into his room and he saw me. He recognized me and I was really grateful for that… but he called me with a different name… He called me Sakura. And he called his brother Kakashi-sensei! Imagine that. Something's wrong with him. I just don't know what! Even Kyo-san doesn't have a clue…"

For a moment, no one spoke while they were trying to digest what I just said.

"So, what does that mean? Does that mean that he forgot our real names, but nothing else aside from them?"

"He recognized you, but how about us others? Will he recognize our faces?"

"How did he react to you, Setsuna? What did he do when he saw you?"

'When did you talk to him? Just a while ago, right?"

"Did he hit his head or something?"

"Is that amnesia? Probably not…"

"Arggh! I don't get it!"

Confused at all the questions they bombarded me with, I hastily tried to find a way to answer them all as best as I could.

I already opened my mouth to reply to the first question, when we heard the doorknob of Nori's room being turned, and the door creak as it was pulled open. Out came Kyo-san, looking dazed and with a far away expression.

One look at Kyo-san's face told me volumes.

He noticed me and the others. He looked at us all before his eyes rested on mine. There, he shook his head. Apparently, he understood the silent question I sent to him with my eyes and had answered by shaking his head.

I frowned at this, but quickly wiped it off my face as he approached us with a smile.

"Hey there! You here to visit Nori?"

"Ya, Kyo-san. My pal, Aki, 's been missing him, ya know."

Kyo-kun's eyes crinkled and that meant that he smiled behind that surgeon's mask of his.

"Well, you could see him, but…"

His face suddenly turned serious. I could feel the tension in the air.

"Be careful of what you say or do there inside. Nori's not well yet. Even worse; he has a problem in the mind, if I am not mistaken… Probably from the accident, or something. So please do not take it against him or yourself if he speaks of things you could not comprehend…"

"What things?"

Kyo-san looked straight at Shinta.

"You will see for yourself. They involve ninjas and fighting skills and countries waging war-"

Kyo-kun wanted to continue, but was cut short.

"Ninjas?"

"War?"

"So it's not amnesia… What about Schizophrenia?"

Kyo-san just shook his head.

"I don't know if it's schizophrenia, kids. All I know is that it's not normal."

We all nodded. I sighed.

"You could say that."

He then looked at all of us and smiled.

"What are you waiting for? You've wanted to see him for two days already, now! Get in. He won't bite you, you know!"

He ushered us to the door and gave us all one last look, before knocking on it.

Slowly, he opened the door and I felt everyone hold their breaths. It seemed like they were just as anxious as I.

I peered inside and entered along with the others. Kyo-san left us already to get back to work.

There he was, sitting on the bed, looking out the window with a frown gracing his tan face. If I wouldn't have known him, I would have thought that he didn't notice us and was just too wrapped up in his thoughts. But I knew him better… He was, after all, my boyfriend… my Nori. He knew we were there.

But then again… Was he still my Nori? Was he still mine? Was he even still Nori at all?

'So many questions…'

The others made no sound, but they stepped forward towards him. That was when he finally looked at us; and for a while, I was scared that he would not recognize me at all… or that he would forget that I was Setsuna, again…

But I never expected him to actually smile at us a warm smile. I also didn't expect him to jump off the bed full of energy and approach us, waving. His step had a light skip to it.

For a while, I saw Nori again.

But unlike the others, I couldn't be fooled.

"Heya guys! Nice to see you all here! You came to see me didn't you? Of course you did… You really love me, ne? Hehehe… Well, what can I say; I am a really important person. And you wanted to give me get-well presents didn't you? So… where are my presents? Where are they? Give 'em!"

Iori stepped beside him and bonked him on the head.

"Baka! We didn't come here just to give you presents…"

"Oww … In-Iori! I just had an operation! Be gentle with my head…"

Iori got a guilty face, but her expression changed when Nori rumbled on.

"Well, I'll let that one slip… if you give me my presents. I do hope you brought them with you. If not, then you can come back tomorrow and give them to me. In fact, if you brought me presents today, already, then you could bring me again tomorrow, right? Hehehe…Yup, that's it!"

Iori hit him on the head again.

"Owwie!"

"That's what you get!"

All of us laughed and Namida tapped him on the shoulder.

"For a guy who was out cold for 2 days, you sure seem fine already! Shouldn't you be in bed or something"

We all looked at Namida when he said this. We all became rather silent.

Nori just grinned and replied.

"Nah! I never really knew how to follow orders, did I? Anyway, lying around's just not possible for me! You know me, Ne-Namida!"

'Oh really? Does he really now you that well, my Nori? If he does, then did he notice your slip? Did he notice that you wanted to call him with a different name? Did he notice that you are strained at the moment? Did he notice that you flinched at your mistake?'

I frowned at these thoughts.

'You can't fool me…'

For the rest of the time we all spent together in that hospital room, I was quiet and just observed him. He probably knew this, but he hid it well. My Nori had always been one to hide his problems and real feelings behind a mask of smiles.

I wondered if the others were aware of my unusually silent behavior. But in the end, it ceased to matter to me. It seemed that they were oblivious to many things today.

The whole time, we briefed Nori about what happened in the 2 days he was unconscious All in all, it wasn't a lot, but they were all fooling around – making jokes and all that. I laughed with them, though mine were all fake and strained laughs.

After a while, Kyo-san's head showed up at the doorway and told us that we should let Nori rest again, after which he left to attend to his patients.. Thus, we said our goodbyes… Iori gave her last head-bonks, Aki jumped into Nori's arms and licked his face before jumping back to Kira, Hikari blushed for the last time that day, and Chiriko gave Nori a bag of chips. One by one the others went out; Namida looking back one last time and nodding, before closing the door behind him, leaving me and Nori inside the room.

He looked at me in a serious way and I opened my mouth to speak. When no words would come out, I just shook my head and embraced him. I smiled to myself when he hugged me back, albeit a bit hesitantly.

When we both pulled away, he kissed me on the forehead.

"Please don't make the others notice, ya? I know that you saw how I really felt a while ago. Please don't tell them. They shouldn't act all weird on me. I don't want that. Anyway, I will be well soon. Don't worry…

I nodded and gave him a small smile.

"You can count on me."

He smiled back and I gave him the last kiss on the cheek before exiting the room.

Outside, I leaned my back on the door and everyone became silent for a while. When I smiled at them, they resumed their buzzing.

"He's not sick! He's too energetic…"

"Considering the fact that he just had an operation… man, he's not human! No one could heal that fast!"

"Well, his mouth's still as loud as before… hmmph!"

"Hey, Iori, weren't you too harsh on him?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Did you find anything abnormal about his behavior?"

"None at all! He's perfectly fine…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yup!"

"How about what Kyo-sensei said?"

"Perhaps he just exaggerated a bit?"

"I don't know…"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know, either. That's why I'm asking you, you dolt!"

"Hey, that was uncalled for!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Oh, shut it, you two!"

That was when I stopped listening to them bickering…

So they thought he was fine…

'Nori…'

'Naruto…'

'Who are you really?'

We all bid each other goodbye and went our own way home. All the way, I couldn't help but think…

'How long? Why did this happen? Did this change anything?'

END OF FLASHBACK

Now, while I looked out the window in my room, my soul reached out to his, wondering what he was thinking at the moment.

Nori's POV

When they left me, I was relieved. I didn't need to pretend anymore.

Slowly, I lay myself back onto the bed and closed my eyes, flinching at the pain.

'I just had an operation, after all…'

'I wonder how they could buy my act a while ago. I felt no pain-I felt no pain, my ass!'

But then again, it was my fault that they now believed I was well.

'Well, I can't rewind that anymore. Besides, it's better this way…'

Suddenly, the annoying nurse came back.

"Here's your dinner."

She put the tray down on the bedside table and started removing the foil. I stopped her.

"It's okay. I can feed myself."

She looked at me questioningly.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"If you say so. But drink your pills afterwards, ya?"

I nodded and she hurried off out of the room.

'Let me guess… I bet she's hurrying to stalk my bro.'

I chuckled and stopped when what I said sank in.

'Brother? I must be getting used to the idea already… Sensei or brother?'

'I guess, it really doesn't matter if it's real. What matter's is if it's true…'

I was getting confused, so I shook my thoughts away and started eating. After that, I stood up, winced, and made my way to the bathroom to flush the pills down the toilet.

As I watched the pills go and slowly disappear down the hole, I felt happy in a twisted way and I felt myself smirk.

I went back to the bed and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

Yup, that was the fourth chapter, folks. It was long! So, wadya think? Good, bad? Please review…Please?

Thanks to all who review! I love ya'll!

SchwarzViolet