Colors of Life and Death series

Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21

Chapter 2

Due to the overwhelming amount of requests (And because writing has been pretty much the only thing I could do for the last 10 days) I have released this early. Now, just remember, if you kill me you won't get your happy ending. runs

I'm hoping the site will not begrudge me at least an occasional review response section, so here goes:

Infinite Freedom: He better live otherwise I will do things to you so sadistic that they would make Anko look like a saint. ((MEEP!))

Kyu Ryu: It's a good thing you like happy endings, or I would through my computer out my window right about now..." ((Now now. Enough computers have already suffered at the hands of Chibi-chan. Lol))

And thank you very much to everyone else who reviewed. I'd type them out, but over 60 names would take quite a bit of space. Lol.

To those of you who normally read the story on my site: I will be posting both chapters there soon. I just haven't had the chance.

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

Hinata and Naruto had not moved for over fifteen minutes. After they'd had finished crying, they had remained rooted to that spot--terrified of letting go. It was around this time that Tsunade and Jiraiya had found them.

"Oh God...Hinata found out." Jiraiya thought. "And she's probably told him. Shit...this will make things more difficult." He took a small step towards the couple. "Naruto..." he said softly.

No response.

Tsunade bit her lower lip. "Naruto...I need to talk to you."

Neither teenager moved. "Leave me alone," was Naruto's whispered reply. "I want to stay here."

Tsunade grimaced and tried to control her emotions as she knelt down next to him. "I want to try some jutsus--see if I can fix the damage."

"Jiraiya..." Naruto said.

Jiraiya winced at hearing Naruto address him as something other than his nickname. "Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked as he slightly tipped his head sideways to look at him.

Jiraiya squeezed his eyes shut. "I didn't know how," he said as he placed a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder.

Naruto closed his eyes. "How long...do I have?"

"Right now, I don't think more than...a month," Jiraiya answered softly.

"We need to go," Tsunade pleaded.

Naruto shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Tsunade sighed. "Jiraiya," she whispered, "take Hinata home. I'll take Naruto."

Jiraiya nodded. As a unit, the two stepped forward, each swiftly grabbing their intended targets. The reaction was instantaneous.

"No! NO!" Hinata screeched, her arms reaching for Naruto as Jiraiya pulled her backwards.

"Let me go, dammit!" Naruto yelled as he struggled to get free.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. This is too important," Tsunade said in a pained tone of voice.

"At least let Hina-chan come with us!" Naruto pleaded as he tried to get to the girl in question.

Jiraiya gave Tsunade a questioning look. She nodded and they let Naruto and Hinata go. "Alright," Tsunade relented. Naruto and Hinata were back in each other's arm in an instant. "But let me make something very clear; she gets in the way for even a second and she's going home. Is that understood?" she asked sternly.

Both teens quickly nodded.

Tsunade, seated at a large desk, angrily scratched something out on the notepad in front of her. "DAMN IT! Why can't I figure this out?!"

Jiraiya sighed and rose from his seat across the small room. "You need a break, Tsunade. You've been at this for six hours."

Tsunade pushed off the hand her old friend had placed on her shoulder. "I'm fine," she said with determination as she continued scribbling down her notes.

"Tsunade, you won't do Naruto any good if you can't think straight from exhaustion," Jiraiya reasoned.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed. "Alright, but only for an hour. You wake me up any later than that and I'll beat the hell out of you." She stood up and turned off the blue-shaded desk lamp that had been illuminating her work.

Jiraiya nervously cleared his throat. "Right."

Naruto lay in bed in the private hospital ward of his house. Hinata slept in a small cot across from his left side. The room didn't look much different than a regular bedroom. In fact, the only indicators that it was medical in nature were the construction of the bed and the various instruments scattered about.

A thin shaft of light broke the darkness of the room as the door opened. Tsunade stepped softly so as not to disturb the sleeping couple. When she reached the bed she stared at her son's sleeping form. "Just a short break, Naruto. I'll go right back to work after I clear my head." She reached down and gently stroked his forehead. "I won't let you die...I promise," she whispered.

The next morning Naruto felt as though his head was about to split open. Just as he had every time he'd felt pain in the last few months, he forced healing chakra to the place that hurt. He wasn't entirely certain of what he was doing, but he had to be doing something right if he was still alive. "Ugh. The pain's not totally gone. Maybe it's getting too bad for me to fix," he thought glumly.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Naruto allowed himself a small smile. "Hey, Hina-chan."

Hinata yawned and stretched. "What time is it?"

"About nine-thirty. How'd you sleep?" Naruto asked, trying to keep the conversation away from his condition.

Hinata smiled. "Okay. My neck is a little sore though. Has Tsunade-sama found anything yet?"

Naruto sighed. "So much for keeping the conversation normal." He took off his sleeping cap. "No. I don't know what she thinks she can do though. She told me the chakra's all mixed together."

"It is...but I think I've found a way around it," came Tsunade's tired voice from the doorway.

The heads of both teens whipped toward the door. "How?!" Naruto demanded.

Tsunade sat down on the end of the bed. "The different chakras did mix properly, but it's the amount that's out of balance. In six months you still haven't managed to use up enough of your chakra to restore that balance."

"So what do we do?" Hinata asked urgently.

"No problem!" Naruto chimed in. "I'll just make a bunch of Kage Bunshins till it's back to normal," he explained, feeling rather pleased with himself.

Tsunade shook her head. "In your current condition, that would kill you."

Naruto frowned and blew an angry puff of air out of his nose.

"I'm going to teach you Souzou saisei (Genesis Rebirth) no Jutsu," Tsunade said with a firm tone.

Naruto's eyebrows went up. "But won't that hurt me too?"

"It's a gentle technique. Once you've collected enough chakra to the diamond you can use it to perform a mass healing on yourself--this way you get rid of the excess and repair the damage at the same time."

"How long will it take?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Well, in my case it took a few years, but then, I only used the jutsu for a short time each morning. If you work on it for at least twelve hours a day, you should be able to reach capacity within a week. You also may have to do it more than once, depending on just how much excess chakra there is."

Naruto smiled widely and lowered his head as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't get too relaxed, Naruto. I'm not one-hundred percent sure this will work," Tsunade said with a pained expression.

"Still...thanks, Kaa-san," Naruto said as he gave her a hug.

"For my son, I could do no less," Tsunade said with conviction.

Naruto tried desperately to ignore the pins and needles sensation that was steadily growing in nearly every one of his joints. He sat on his bed, legs crossed, eyes closed and his hands in the tiger seal. He had been working on the Souzou saisei for just over three hours. Although it was driving him crazy, he had actually managed to form a diamond about the size of a grain of sand, which was quite an achievement for someone who'd never used such a jutsu.

Suddenly, his concentration was disrupted when he heard yelling outside his window. He frowned and jumped to his feet, which nearly ended with him falling over due to the fact that his legs were a bit numb. He opened his window to find Sakura verbally facing off with a young, female chuunin.

"That's a lie and I am NOT going to listen to it anymore!" Sakura yelled.

The chuunin glared at her. "Fine! I was just telling you what I heard! You believe what you want!" she said as she turned on her heel and stormed off.

Sakura promptly stuck out her tongue at the retreating back of her opponent. Just then, Naruto came running out of the house.

"Sakura-chan!" he called out with a wave. "What was that all about?" he asked once he had reached her.

Sakura snorted. "Just some jerk telling a," she paused in her statement long enough to turn toward the road where the chuunin could still be seen as a slowly shrinking speck, "TOTAL LIE," only to be answered by a rude hand gesture, barely discernable due to the distance. She turned back to Naruto and her voice regained its normal volume level, "about you."

Naruto's face twisted in confusion. "About me? What was she saying?"

Sakura shook her head in annoyance. "She was trying to tell me someone was listening outside Tsunade-sama's office and they heard her say you were dying," she repeated the story in complete disgust. "Can you believe...?" she stopped when she saw the strange look on Naruto's face. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gulped. "Come on inside for a second, Sakura-chan," he said softly.

Sakura's frown deepened. "What's wrong?"

Naruto shook his head almost imperceptibly. "Just c'mon," he repeated as he began walking.

Something clicked inside Sakura's head and her breath caught in her throat. She dashed in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "It's not true, is it?!" she asked in panic.

Naruto's expression was unreadable.

"IS IT?!" Sakura repeated in a shrill voice.

Naruto simply squeezed his eyes shut, gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze.

"No..." Sakura took the tiniest step backwards. "I...I don't understand...How?" she asked as tears welled up in her eyes.

Naruto sighed. "Come on in the house...I'll explain there."

Sakura sat on the couch opposite Naruto, staring at the floor. "So...there's a chance you'll be okay?" she asked quietly without raising her head.

"Yeah." Naruto was silent for a moment before continuing. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I won't go down without a fight," he said with determination.

Sakura looked up at him and sniffled. "I don't even want there to be a down."

Naruto gave his friend a hug and sighed. "I know. Do me a favor though? Please don't tell anyone else."

Sakura broke the hug and frowned at him. "What about Hinata and Sasuke-kun?"

"Hina-chan already knows. Sasuke...He's had enough grief in his life."

"Naruto-kun, he's your brother. He has a right to know," Sakura said with a firm, yet gentle tone.

"If it gets to the point where there's no hope, I'll tell him."

Sakura tilted her head slightly to one side and squinted at the tiny blue dot on Naruto's forehead. "Amazing. You've already gotten it to work."

"Yeah. I was in the middle of it when I heard you yelling." Naruto gave Sakura a half smile. "I better get back to it."

Sakura nodded. "Okay. I'll go apologize to Kagura." She stood to leave. "I'll see you later?"

Naruto gave her a small smile. "You bet."

Two days later, Naruto stared in the mirror at the diamond which was now roughly half the size of his pinkie finger nail. He nodded in satisfaction and decided to go out for a walk to stretch his legs. He was tired of being stuck in the house.

As he was strolling down the main street of Konoha, he noticed a lot of people looking at him strangely. "Is that...pity?" he thought. "Oh please tell me everybody doesn't know..."

His suspicions were confirmed, however, when he stopped to pick up some chocolates for Hinata. As he started to hand over his money the clerk gently pushed it back at him. "It's on the house today, sweetie." Her voice and her eyes held the same pity he'd been seeing the entire way there.

Naruto gave the kind woman a small smile. "Thanks."

As he left the shop Naruto's heart raced in panic. "I gotta find Sasuke...fast." He was about to start running when a strong hand came down on his shoulder. He turned around to see Kakashi staring down at him.

"So, here you are. You have to go home right now. Tsunade-sama is worried sick," Kakashi said in a voice that managed to be disapproving and nonchalant at the same time.

Naruto desperately tried to reason with Kakashi. "You don't understand! Everyone knows what's going on. I gotta make sure Sasuke doesn't find out!"

Kakashi's visible eye widened for a second before resuming its normal size. "I think you're already too late."

Naruto turned around to find his elder brother giving him a glare that could melt glacial ice. "Sasuke..."

Kakashi sighed. "I'll give you twenty minutes; after that I'll be back for you."

"Arigato."

Kakashi leapt away. Naruto stood still for only a moment before making a run for the forest. "Naruto!" Sasuke yelled before giving chase.

"I can't talk to him about this in front of all those people." He had just broken the civilization/forest border when he began to feel his legs giving out on him. He stumbled and rolled down a hillside, landing on his back at the bottom.

Sasuke saw Naruto fall and ran faster. "Naruto!" He leapt to the bottom of the hill in one jump and rushed to Naruto's side. "Are you okay?!"

Naruto turned his head toward Sasuke. "Ow. Depends on what you mean by okay," he groaned.

Sasuke suddenly remembered why he'd been chasing his brother and slugged him in the cheek. "When the hell were you gonna tell me?!" Naruto averted his gaze. "HUH?!" Naruto stayed silent. "Or was I gonna find out when they sent me the funeral notice?!" Still no response. "ANSWER ME GOD DAMN IT!!"

Naruto finally found his voice. "I didn't want to say anything till I knew for sure."

"Till you knew for sure that you're DYING?!" Sasuke screamed, gritting his teeth to keep back the tears.

"No! Till I knew for sure that the cure wouldn't work!" Naruto yelled back as he sat up.

"Cure?!" Sasuke asked as his anger melted away and was replaced with hope.

Naruto nodded. "Kaa-san taught me Souzou saisei." He pushed up the hair that had fallen over his forehead. "See?"

Sasuke seemed to relax a little. "So...what's the chance of it working?" he asked as he sat down and folded his arms on his knees.

"Pretty good. We'll know in five days," Naruto replied softly.

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "Okay, but if you die on me, I'll kick your sorry ass all over the after life."

Naruto smirked. "Yeah."

On day four Naruto found he was able to sit for five hours without needing to stretch. "At least I'll have a lot more patience when this is done," he thought in mild amusement. He heard a knock on his door. "Hai?"

"It's me, Naruto-kun. Can I come in?" Hinata's voice asked.

Naruto smiled. "Sure."

Hinata opened the door. "I brought you Ichiraku for lunch," she said with a smile.

"AH! Hina-chan, you're the best!!" Naruto exclaimed as he grabbed the takeout container.

Hinata giggled. "How is the jutsu go..." she paused when she saw the size of the diamond on Naruto's forehead, which was now the size of an adult thumbnail. "S...sugoi. You're amazing, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto nodded his thanks since his mouth was stuffed with ramen.

"Well, it looks like I don't have to call you down to lunch after all," said Tsunade as she stood in the doorway.

Naruto swallowed his latest bite and laughed. "Yeah, now I don't ha..." his sentence was interrupted as his eyes suddenly closed and he fell to the floor. The ramen bowl fell beside him, leaking its contents onto the rug.

"Naruto!" yelled Tsunade as she fell to her knees next to him.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked. Both she and Tsunade immediately fired up their healing jutsu, all the while chanting prayers in their heads.

...TO BE CONTINUED

((Adds motion sensor activated lasers to RPR)) ((Cough))

Solution next chapter. I promise. And chapter 3 is over halfway done (Had a lot of time to write on vacation) so you won't have to deal with the suspense for too long.

No new radioplay or doujin news to report. I've been stuck at my Mother-in-Law's so I haven't been able to work on anything requiring Adobe Premiere.

Till next chappy,

Song