Colors of Life and Death series
Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21

Chapter 10

Wow. I think Morgan broke into my cappuccino stash (Either that, or Chibi-chan has been at it again 'Glares in Chibi's direction'. LOL.)

Enjoy the chappy all. :)

"Hey, Gaara!"

Gaara looked up from his book to see Naruto just waltz right into his hospital room without knocking. He sighed inwardly but managed a courteous, "Ohayo."

Naruto sat down on the end of the bed, a wolfish expression on his face. "So...Kurumi been to visit you yet?" he teased.

Gaara rolled his eyes slightly. "Three times." He looked at the clock on his nightstand. "In fact, she should be..." He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Gaara-sama, can I come in?" chirped Kurumi's cheerful voice.

Gaara sighed. "Hai."

Kurumi walked in, holding a book. "I found it." She set down a tiny vase with a single rose in it. "Took me a couple hours but..." it was then she noticed Naruto. "Hey, Naruto-kun," she said happily. "Sorry I didn't see you there," she said as a nurse walked in and set Gaara's clothes down on a chair next to the bed.

Naruto blinked. "I'm sitting on the end of Gaara's bed. How could you miss me?"

The nurse giggled and whispered in Naruto's ear. "She kinda has tunnel vision when it comes to Gaara-sama."

Naruto laughed as the nurse left. He looked at the title of the book as she handed it to Gaara. It read: 'The Duties of a Kazekage'. He smiled. "Glad you haven't given up on that."

The side of Gaara's mouth curled upward into a small smile. "I should know these things just in case Kazekage-sama actually manages to convince the counsel that I would be a good candidate."

Naruto smiled. "Good plan. Glad to see you're okay."

"Thanks to you," Gaara said with a grateful nod.

"I always take care of my friends," Naruto replied with a thumb-up.

Gaara gave his friend a genuine smile.

"Neh, Gaara-sama?" Kurumi asked while gaining some pink in her cheeks.

Gaara cocked his head to one side in curiosity as a gentle breeze wafted through the room from the window. "Hm?"

Kurumi swallowed. "After you're released later today...would you like to get ice cream with me?" she asked in a small voice.

Gaara looked startled for a split second then regained his composure. He was about to say 'no' but something about the look in her eyes crumpled his resolve. "Alright."

Kurumi's green eyes lit up instantly. "Really?!"

Gaara nodded.

Kurumi jumped into the air. "YATTA!" Almost as soon as she landed she realized she'd been a bit over zealous. She turned a bright crimson and ahemed as she clamped her hands behind her back in an effort to look more composed.

Gaara looked tentative. Naruto was barely able to hold back his laughter.

"Um...I mean... Seven o-clock okay?" Kurumi asked, praying she hadn't scared the poor boy off.

"That is acceptable," Gaara replied politely.

Kurumi's smile returned. "Great! I'll see you then. Bye guys!" she said exuberantly. She attempted to walk out the door but walked into it instead. "Oof!" She rubbed her nose. "Eh heh heh heh," she laughed nervously. After managing to make it out the door her right sandal caught on her left and she fell into the hallway. "I'm okay!" she called out through the slowly closing door.

Naruto stared at the closed door for a moment. He snorted, then snickered, then burst into loud laughter. Gaara simply shook his head and waited for him to stop.

When Naruto finally calmed down Gaara decided it was safe to talk without too much fear of interruption. "She's...a little clumsy."

Naruto let out one last chuckle. "I gotta go," he said as he stood up. "Gotta meet with the Kazekage before we leave."

"Thank you for visiting," Gaara said truthfully.

"No prob," Naruto replied as he clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "A word of advice though?"

"Hm?"

"Next time you're talking to a girl that likes you try something more interesting than 'That is acceptable'," Naruto said in his best imitation of Gaara's voice.

Gaara smirked and made an affirmative sound by blowing a puff of air through his nose.

Naruto walked out the door and headed for the Kazekage tower.

Takaifuujin, Kazekage of Suna, was silent as he regarded the young man in front of him. He had gone through many different views of him in a rather short period of time—From instantly discounting his abilities because of his young age, to being fearful of the beast he had believed to be within him, to being in awe of his amazing chakra, and then finally to having a deep feeling of gratitude to him for destroying an enemy so dangerous to his beloved Suna. "I thank you all," he said finally. "You fought bravely for us and saved many of my comrades, both on," he looked at Kakashi, "and off," his gaze shifted to Sakura, "the battlefield." He looked at Naruto. "But you...you not only saved the boy that I plan to have succeed me one day, but you won the battle for us. Once you become Hokage—and I know you will—I will be honored to be your ally," he finished this with a low bow.

An odd silence fell over Naruto. It was not often someone regarded him with such respect, let alone a kage. So it was with a great leap forward in the growth of his personality that he too, bowed low. "Arigato, Kazekage-sama. I look forward to being your ally as well."

Not a mouth in the room, save for Naruto's and Takaifuujin's, was left closed. They stared, slack-jawed, at they blond boy they knew, or thought they had known, so well by this point.

"It that really Naruto?" Kakashi wondered.

Hinata positively glowed with pride. "Naruto-kun."

As they left the Kazekage tower, Kakashi clapped a hand down on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto...I'm impressed by the way you handled yourself in there. I'm proud of you," Kakashi said as his right eye crinkled into a smile.

Naruto smiled as well—then suddenly his expression changed to that of sudden remembrance. "Oh!"

Kakashi looked at him curiously. "Hm?"

"I forgot something! Can you guys wait out here?" Naruto pleaded.

Kakashi was very curious as to what Naruto could possibly have forgotten but he gave a nod of approval anyway. Naruto smiled as his thanks and dashed back inside the building.

"Kazekage-sama?"

Takaifuujin lifted his head to meet the gaze of the male jounin that had poked his head in. "Hai?"

"Uzumaki Naruto would like to speak with you again."

Takaifuujin smiled. "By all means, send him in."

Naruto appeared in the doorway and gave a short bow. "I'm sorry to bother you again. I know you gotta be busy."

"It's no bother at all." Takaifuujin waved his hand at the pillows in front of him. "Please take a seat."

Naruto sat down as instructed. "I need to ask you about one of the techniques you used against Sasori."

Takaifuujin looked intrigued. "Oh?"

"Danshingu kaze no jutsu—is it unique to Suna?" Naruto asked seriously.

Takaifuujin smiled. "Actually it is. In fact it's not only unique to Suna, but unique to me. It is my own jutsu."

A shocked expression crossed Naruto's face. For some reason he was now very nervous about revealing the information he had.

"What is it?" Takaifuujin asked, his curiosity now piqued.

Naruto swallowed. "I...I've seen it before."

Takaifuujin looked confused for a moment but then suddenly his eyes held something that Naruto just couldn't pinpoint. Takaifuujin spoke in a strange tone of voice. "Where...Where did you see it?"

"Ganshou city. I fought...I fought a girl who used that technique," Naruto replied carefully.

Takaifuujin's eyes snapped wide. He grabbed Naruto by the shoulders, a desperately hopeful look in his eyes. "Katsura! Was her name Katsura?!"

Naruto's heart was sinking with each word of the conversation. "Yes," he answered stiffly.

The wild look left his eyes and Takaifuujin heaved a great sigh of relief. He looked up, his face shining with gratitude. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I have been looking for Katsura for almost two years." At seeing Naruto's confused look he decided to explain. "She is my daughter."

The expression Naruto's face twisted into was one of absolute horror. The bottom had dropped out of his stomach and he suddenly desperately wished he had not gone back into the building.

Takaifuujin did not like the look on Naruto's face. "What is it?!"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed several times without making a sound. When his voice finally did find release it spoke the words that are the nightmare of every parent in existence. "She...she...she's dead."

Takaifuujin's expression became fearful and disbelieving. "Wh-wh-what?!"

"It was an accident. She was...part of a gang we were trying to stop. She was following us so we attacked. I was only trying to knock her out, so we could question her but...she...she fell onto something sharp and..." Naruto couldn't bare to finish so he simply let the rest hang in the air.

Tears pricked at the corners of Takaifuujin's eyes. "You..." His hands balled into shaking fists. "You k-killed my, my Katsura?"

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to run as fast as his legs could carry him to escape seeing such a look on the face of the man who had shown him such respect and admiration just a short while ago.

"Get out..." Takaifuujin said with barely contained rage.

"I...I'm sorry," Naruto said as tears slowly made their way down his face.

"GET OUT!" Takaifuujin screamed.

Without another word Naruto bolted from the room, down the steps and out the door, not bothering to even looked at his comrades as he streaked past.

Kakashi looked stunned. "What the hell happened?"

Alone in the room now, Takaifuujin's face and upper torso sank to the floor as he wept loud, bitter tears for the daughter who would never come home.

Kakashi didn't know what was going on, but his first priority was Naruto. "Hinata. Find Naruto and bring him to the front of the hospital. We'll go pick up Kiba and meet you there."

Hinata dumbly nodded. As the others left her alone she ran in the direction Naruto had gone. "Naruto-kun...What happened?"

She activated her Byakugan after she had traveled a few blocks. Her eyes scanned the buildings and streets. To her right she saw children playing with a ball. Directly in front of her she saw nothing but people shopping in the market. A little to her left there was a dog licking what seemed to be a fairly recent wound. But in every direction she looked, there was no Naruto. Finally, she looked upward and, to her right a bit, was the object of her search. "There!"

Naruto heard the footsteps behind him, but ignored them.

"Naruto-kun?" When she was met with silence, Hinata sat down behind him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. A pained look crossed her face as her hand was pushed off.

"Please, Hina-chan...just go away," Naruto nearly whispered.

"I can't—Not when you're hurting," Hinata replied softly.

Naruto sighed but didn't reply.

Hinata, not knowing what else to do, sat behind him and waited. She had learned from experience that Naruto would eventually say something if she stayed long enough. She hated seeing him like this and it happened much too often as far as she was concerned.

Naruto felt as though Hinata's eyes were burning holes right through him. "For someone so shy she sure can be stubborn," he thought glumly.

Kiba looked at the carnation in his hand, sighed, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," said a female voice.

Kiba opened the door. Lying in the bed was the gennin who had helped him in the fight. "Hi," he said with a small smile.

The girl brightened instantly. "Hi!" She sat up, pulled her forest green hair into a ponytail, and secured it with a blue elastic.

"How are you feeling?" Kiba asked as he set the flower in a vase on the night stand.

The girl stretched her arms above her head. "I'll be a whole lot better when I'm outta here and back on active duty," she said with a wry smile. "My name's Nao. What's yours?"

"Kiba."

Nao gave a short bow. "Nice ta meet ya. Thanks for the flower."

Kiba smiled. "I just wanted to thanks again for helping me. And I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks. Hope we have a chance to fight together again someday," Nao said with a grin.

"Nhm!" Kiba said with a short, sharp nod. "Well, I gotta catch up with my team. See ya around!" he said with a wave.

"Bye!" Nao replied happily.

"She was his daughter," Naruto said suddenly.

Hinata blinked for a moment in confusion. "What?"

Naruto sighed. "The girl I killed...she was the Kazekage's daughter."

Hinata gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. "On no!" she whispered sharply.

"Yeah. So much for being allies when I become Hokage," Naruto said sadly.

Hinata frowned with her teeth clenched together, then she bit her lip and released it. After repeating this a few times she spoke. "M-maybe he'll forgive you," she offered feebly.

"I don't think so Hina-chan."

There was a loud thud as someone landed on the roof behind them. "We have to get going you two."

Hinata looked up. "Kurenai-sensei! The poison's gone?"

Kurenai nodded. "Yup. Tsunade-sama's antidote making knowledge is amazing," she said with reverence.

Naruto and Hinata stood up.

"Alright then—let's go. You can tell me what happened on the way," Kurenai said.

Kakashi nodded in approval as he saw Kurenai returning over the rooftops with his wayward charges. "About time you got back."

Kurenai landed. "Kakashi—a word?"

Kakashi squinted in curiosity. He moved next to Kurenai, who leaned in close to whisper something. After a moment his visible eye widened considerably. "I understand." He turned around. "We'll leave at once. I doubt our host would welcome anything we have to say at this point."

The Konoha team nodded and headed for home.

"You all did very well on this mission—especially you, Naruto," Tsunade said with a smile.

Naruto's expression did not change from the sullen look he had worn since Suna. "Thanks," he replied with no real emotion.

Tsunade frowned and looked to Kakashi and Kurenai. "I'm sorry, but would you leave Naruto and I alone? I need to talk to him."

Kurenai nodded. "Of course."

Once they were gone Tsunade moved from behind her desk and sat down next to her son. "Kakashi told me about katsura." She was answered with silence. "It's sad when this kind of thing happens, but it's unavoidable sometimes. The Kazekage will realize this eventually."

Naruto picked at his nails absentmindedly. "I'm not so sure," he said sadly.

Suddenly, Tsunade looked like she'd remembered something happy. "Hey! I've got something that'll cheer you up," she said, eyes shining.

Naruto only cocked his head to one side in confusion.

Tsunade and Naruto stood outside Haruka's hospital room. Naruto was still confused because his mother had refused to let him in on what was going on. When Tsunade opened the door his breath caught in his throat.

She was sitting up...She was sitting up and eating breakfast off of a tray. Her long red hair flowing out behind her like a carpet made from the sunset. She glanced upward from her breakfast a moment after she heard the door open. "Hokage-sama, how lovely of you to check up on me personally," she said pleasantly. Her gaze fell on Naruto. "Who's this?" she asked with a smile.

Naruto could barely move or breathe. Only one thing escaped his otherwise paralyzed mouth. "Haruka...nee...san..."

...TO BE CONTINUED

:Dives into RPR: Hey, I haven't done a really mean cliffy in a while. Gimme a break. ;)

This chapter was almost 3.5k words. And that's nuts considering I got it out this fast.

I got a lot of comments on Naruto and Hinata's argument in chapter 9 and some of them were concerned so I felt I should respond to it. The comment (from Withdrawn) was "I like the argument between Naruto and Hinata, though I get the uneasy feeling that it's supposed to be indicative of things to come". My response: Hell no. I HATE 'battle' relationships. A good example is Ross and Rachel from friends. The "break up, make up" crap gets on my nerves. Not to mention a relationship that unstable pretty much never works in real life. My husband and I have been married 11 years and have had maybe 2 'fights' and neither of them were bad enough to come even close to breaking us up. If love is real and the couple has a sturdy base of friendship to start, then they should never come to the point where they'll break up at the first instance of major stress.

I hope that puts any fears to rest. :Locks door and activates security system:

Later all,

Song