A.N: Holding up one's pinky finger and saying 'kore' is equivilant to saying 'girlfriend'.

Chapter One

She couldn't breathe. The darkness surrounded and suffocated her, pressing down on her chest making her struggle for each breath. Slowly, she forced her eyes open. Before her was a towering plant, stretched heavenward towards the sun. With a great force of will, she urged her body to move from the darkness. The plant's leaves swayed in the wind, waving invitingly to her as she moved towards it. As she got closer, she could see that there were many flowering blossoms adorning the plant, with a large, red star shaped flower at the very peak. She smiled. It was beautiful, and as she collapsed in the shade under it, she realized that she was home at last. She was at peace.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, an ominous hissing noise filled the air. Two yellow eyes glowed, and the air became poison. She couldn't move. The yellow eyes came closer, and closer, looming huge against the blackness. A snout, two glittering fangs, and a flickering forked tongue. The behemoth serpent slithered slowly towards the flowering plant, death gleaming in its eyes.

She opened her mouth to scream a warning, but she couldn't. She tried to stand up and fight the creature, but she couldn't. All she could do was watch as the snake, laughing evilly in a deep, raspy voice, coiled to strike.

The crimson flower at the head of the plant turned and bent forward, seeming to regard the snake. The petals on the flower shimmered with energy and seemed to sing. The snake turned towards it, smiled, then attacked. The fangs of the snake sunk deeply into the heart of the flower, and it began to bleed.

Her vision was tinted red with the blood as the flower fell to the ground. Her tears mixed with the sticky redness as the once majestic flower shriveled and turned black. Dead. But the leaves whispered, all was not lost. The snake reared back, shrieking. Poison coursed through the giant monster's body, and it retreated weak and broken back into the silent darkness. In sacrificing its life, the flower has ensured the survival of the magnificent, ancient plant.

She reached out to caress the still, black form of the once vibrant flower. It turned to dust beneath her fingers. She screamed. And then woke up.

Panting, she felt her cool sheets beneath her, damp with sweat. She began to sob silently, trying to slow the frantic beating of her heart. The nightmares were getting more vivid, more real. There could be no mistaking the meaning behind the dream. She had to warn them, before it was too late.

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Iruka shuffled through the last of the students' papers, straightening them into a pile and pushing them to the side of his desk. Tiredly he rubbed his eyes, then leaned against the desk, pushing his chair back and standing up. As he turned to go, he accidentally bumped the edge of the desk, and heard a small thump as one of the pictures sitting there fell face forward. Cursing softly under his breath, he rubbed his hip vigorously and turned back to his desk. Reaching out, he began to place the photo upright, but paused when he saw which one it was. Smiling slightly, he picked it up and looked at it closely.

The photo was taken a decade ago…no, more. It was his old Genin group. Iruka's younger self grinned back at him. On the opposite end of the picture Mizuki stared off into space, a bored look on his face. Iruka shook his head and sighed, placing Mizuki in the back of his mind. Instead, he focused on the figure in the middle of the photo. A young, pale girl with striking violet eyes looked back, the corners of her mouth turned up into the slightest of smiles. Iruka traced her outline absentmindedly. A small frown played across his face, but he quickly shook it off. He was taking Naruto out for Ramen tonight, now was no time to be in a glum mood…

A sharp rapping on the door made him jump, and as he did the picture tumbled out of his hands and fell to the ground, the glass in the frame shattering.

"Damn it," Iruka swore under his breath. Crouching down, he gingerly picked up the frame and called out, "It's open, come in."

He heard the door open and close, and as he started to carefully pick up the shards of glass he yelled again, "Naruto, I'm back here. I just need to pick this up then we can…" as he was talking, he heard footsteps coming towards him, although the figure that stepped into the room most definitely was NOT Naruto. Iruka stopped, hand poised over the frame and ready to drop a shard of glass, and looked up at the person in his room.

At first, it didn't properly register. A woman, about his age, with long, dark brown hair down to her waist. With one hand, she tucked a strand of errant hair behind her ear, revealing a fair, pale complexion. Two violet eyes seemed to sparkle as the woman looked back at him, a slight, expectant grin on her face.

Iruka's chest constricted momentarily, and he squeezed his hands into fists, willing himself to breathe. Once again, the picture tumbled out of his hands, but this time he ignored it. Standing up, he looked at the woman in amazement.

"Nami?" he asked.

"Iruka-kun," the woman replied. "It's been a long time…" walking towards him, she bent over and picked up the picture. She held it up and smiled. "We look so little…" trailing off, she frowned, and then set the picture on Iruka's desk.

"Iruka, you're bleeding."

"Hmm?" Iruka glanced towards where Nami was pointing. "Oh!" Indeed, a small trickle of blood was flowing down his hand. He unclenched his fist, and felt a stinging pain in the palm of his hand.

"Here, let me see…" Nami was at his side, and taking his injured hand she examined it closely. She picked out the shard of glass that had cut itself into Iruka's hand, then placed her right hand, palm down, over Iruka's. A soft blue glow began to pulsate from her hand, and the cut on Iruka's hand stitched itself back together. Iruka, who had remained in kind of a stunned silence up until this point, closed his hand over hers, a large grin breaking out on his face.

"Nami, I didn't think I would ever see you again. How are you? What are you doing here?"

The shadow of a frown crossed Nami's face and she banished it quickly, but not before Iruka noticed.

"I'm…well, I'm here. So I'm good. But the reason I'm here…" she trailed off.

"Is…" Iruka prompted her.

With her free hand, Nami twirled a strand of hair around her finger nervously. "I've…been having those kinds of dreams again."

Iruka didn't have to ask what she meant by that. He knew. All through her childhood Nami had been plagued by terrible nightmares, and in an indirect way they were why she had to leave Konaha in the first place.

A loud squawk made both Iruka and Nami jump.

"EHHHH? IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto stood in the doorway, wide-eyed and pointing, his mouth seeming to threaten to unhinge and drop to the floor. "Who…" Naruto trailed off, a devious look appearing on his face. "Ne, ne…Iruka-sensei, is she your 'kore'?" Naruto asked, holding his pinky finger up and waving it in his former teacher's face.

"Wha…" noticing that he was still holding Nami's hand, Iruka quickly dropped it, his face turning red. "NO!" he exclaimed, vigorously rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while waving the other emphatically back and forth in the air. Suddenly realizing that he was denying it a little TOO strongly, Iruka brought it down a notch.

"I mean," he said, "No, this is my former teammate, Kawachi Shiranami. Nami, this is one of my old students, Uzamaki Naruto."

Naruto, still looking unconvinced, turned his attention to the woman. She smiled, and inclined her head in a slight bow. "Pleased to meet you Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened, as if he had just realized something of the utmost importance. "Anosa, Anosa…Iruka-sensei, does this mean she's coming for ramen too? SHE CAN'T HAVE MY SHARE - OWWW!" Naruto yelped as Iruka smacked him across the back of his head.

"Bakairo! Be polite. Apologize or no one is getting ramen tonight." Iruka looked at Nami, who appeared to be trying her best to smother a fit of laughter.

"OkayOKAY!" Naruto grumbled. "Sorry I was rude, lady."

"Kawachi-San," Iruka corrected him.

"SORRY KAWACHI-SAN!"

"Actually," Nami finally spoke up. "There's no need for formality. You can call me Nami."

"AHHHHHHH!" shrieked Naruto, thoroughly frustrated. "Can we just GO already? I'm STARVING and I have soooooooo much to tell you!"

"You boys go ahead," Nami said. Iruka looked at her sharply. "It's okay," she laughed. "It seems like you two have a lot of catching up to do, and I need to speak with Hokage-sama…"

"Nami, are you in some kind of trouble?" Iruka asked seriously. At the mention of "trouble" Naruto stared at Nami with a renewed sense of interest and a little more respect.

"Iruka…not at the moment. Just go, it will be fine," Nami said, ushering Iruka towards the door. Seeing he was still unconvinced, Nami laughed. "I told you it will be okay. Besides, we can talk when you get back. It's been more than a decade already, what's the harm in waiting a few more hours?"

"And you promise you'll be here when I get back?" Iruka questioned.

"Promise," Nami nodded.

"And you'll tell me everything?"

"You have my word," Nami said solemnly.

Iruka and Nami locked eyes for a moment. Finally, Iruka turned to Naruto.

"So…are you ready yet?" he asked innocently.

"AM I READY?" Naruto yelped indignantly.

Laughing, Iruka began walking towards Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto hot on his heels. Nami watched them until they disappeared around the corner, then turned and silently made her way to the Hokage's home.