Colors of Life and Death series
Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21

Chapter 12

Here ya go guys. I'm on a roll and lovin' it. :) Chibi-chan, for once I'm happy you over caffeinate Morgan. Lol.

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

Naruto sat in the middle of the field, wondering where the hell his cousin was. He'd been right on time, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Dammit—engaged to him for one day and she's already picking up his bad habits."

Kakashi's news had temporarily distracted him from thinking of Haruka but now she seeped back into his thoughts. "If only I'd had time," he quietly berated himself.

Finally he saw Tomoyo emerge from the edge of the woods. "Oi! Bout time!"

Tomoyo jogged over to her younger cousin. "Sorry. I couldn't find my shoes," she explained between breaths.

Naruto looked skeptical but let it drop. "So what do ya got to show me?" he asked without much enthusiasm.

Tomoyo frowned. "Are you okay?"

Naruto grimaced slightly. "Not really."

Tomoyo sat down next to him in the soft grass. "You wanna talk about it?"

Naruto sighed. "It's my fault she's dead," he replied bitterly.

Tomoyo knew who he was talking about. "How is it your fault? You didn't make Kikyo kill her," she offered.

"No...But I had the power to stop her before she did." Naruto clenched his teeth. "She was the one who put Haruka-nee-san in a coma in the first place."

"What?" Tomoyo said with a confused expression.

"When I was nine I was walking to Haruka-nee-san's house and Kikyo tried to kill me," Naruto said with a regretful glare.

Tomoyo made a short gasp.

"Kikyo tried to crush me with a rock but Haruka-nee-san shielded me...and the rock hit her instead..." Naruto said, his voice choking up a bit.

"But then why wasn't Kikyo in jail?" Tomoyo said with a twinge of anger in her voice.

Naruto clenched his fists. "Because my mind blocked out the whole thing. There was no one to tell Sandaime-sama what happened. I remembered about seven months ago when Kyuubi made me watch my worst memories..."

Tomoyo was about to interrupt with a question but Naruto held up his hand.

"It's a long story," he said quickly. He sighed and went on. "I figured Kikyo was already in jail...so I never told kaa-san."

Tomoyo's face showed her understanding. "Oh..."

Naruto's breathing became slightly erratic as he attempted to control his emotions. "I...I never dreamed she got away with that..." He lost his battle and the tears made their way down his face.

Tomoyo bit her lower lip. "I don't know what to say."

"She got hurt because of me! Because people thought I was a monster!" Naruto cried loudly. "And she died because I was too STUPID to tell someone what I knew!"

Tomoyo felt the tears well up in her eyes as she watched her younger cousin. She remembered the day after Haruka's death.

(("Are you gonna be okay?" Tomoyo asked Naruto tentatively.

Naruto looked up at her with an odd expression. "I'll be fine. It's not like she was around for very long."

Tomoyo was shocked at the callousness of Naruto's statement. She frowned, resisting the urge to slap him. "Well, at least Kikyo is getting what's coming to her."

Naruto closed his eyes for a second. "Yeah." He looked at the sky and then back at Tomoyo. "I gotta go. Kaa-san's waiting for me."

Before Tomoyo could respond, Naruto had run off.))

Tomoyo sighed. "I knew it. He was lying that day. He must've still been in shock." She did the only thing she could think of and wrapped her arms around the crying boy.

"Why?! Why couldn't she stay with me? I only had her back for one day!" Naruto cried in anguish.

As she let Naruto cry Tomoyo looked at the sky and pleaded. "Kami-sama, please let that bitch get the death penalty."

TenTen frowned as she glanced at a bird that had begun chirping. It sat on a power line above the street bench she and Sasuke were sitting on. "So when's the trial?"

"Two days from now," Sasuke said as he uncrossed his arms and stood up. "I gotta go. Sakura wanted me to tell her as soon as I found out." He made half a chuckle. "She'd be so mad if she knew I didn't tell her first."

"It's not your fault I'm nosy," TenTen said with a laugh.

Sasuke smirked. "I'll see you later," he said as he turned to leave.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke turned back around. "Hm?"

"You never told me how you stopped Naruto from killing Kikyo."

Sasuke thought for a moment. "I just told him what he needed to hear."

TenTen frowned in confusion. "But what did you...?"

"Nothing you need to know," Sasuke interrupted. His expression clearly told TenTen to drop it, so she did.

"Okay. Later then," she said with a small smile.

Sasuke nodded and left.

TenTen, with a mopey expression on her face, rested the bottom of her face in her hands. "Damn that boy is confusing," she muttered.

Tomoyo gave Naruto a comforting smile. "We can do the surprise tomorrow. Why don't you get some rest?"

A puffy-eyed Naruto shook his head. "Naw. I think I'm gonna train for a while—see if I can clear my head."

Tomoyo nodded. "Kay." She stood up and kissed Naruto on the top of his head. "Ja na."

"Ja," Naruto answered—and his cousin walked away.

The Akatsuki leader glared at Deidara. "You assured me using the Ichibi as bait would bring success."

Deidara frowned in regret. "I didn't expect others would join in the fight. Any other Jinchuuriki would have been abandoned by their village."

The leader sighed. "We will have another chance. Itachi—are you prepared?"

"Hai," Itachi replied coolly.

"Hey, Itachi, are you sure you want to do this?" Kisame asked with a sideways glance at his partner. "Your little brother is mentally unstable as it is. This could break him."

"If it achieves our goal, then the sacrifice is necessary," Itachi said darkly.

Hinata had gone to the training field with the intention of asking him to dinner, but she had only gotten as far as the edge of the field. She'd been frozen to the spot for last five minutes because of the sight in front of her from which she could not tear her gaze.

When she had arrived at the field she found her boyfriend, minus his shirt, doing taijutsu drills. His skin had a thin sheen of sweat over it which shimmered a bit in the light of the setting sun. The look of intensity in his eyes had captivated her and she was lost in them.

Naruto knew someone was watching him. He wasn't sure who, but he did know it wasn't an enemy due to the chakra signature so he largely ignored them. He held out his hand and the familiar multi-colored ball of light appeared on it. He nodded in approval at the swirling ball, then held out the other hand and repeated the process. He took a deep breath and turned on a large boulder to his left. "Nibai rasengan! (A/N-Dual rasengan)" He charged forward, slamming into the boulder with the force of a wrecking ball—it shattered into rubble.

Hinata watched as he was thrown backward from the force of the explosion.

He stared at the pile of smaller rocks that occupied the space the boulder had been in a moment ago, breathing hard. "Shit...still too much power..." he said in between gasps. He looked towards the woods. "Are you gonna stare at me all night or are you gonna come out?" he asked loudly.

Hinata stepped out from behind a tree. "S-Sorry, Naruto-kun," she said with a heavy blush that was barely visible in the twilight.

Naruto smiled instantly. "Hina-chan!" He got into a more comfortable sitting position as she walked over to him.

"That was amazing, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with pride.

Naruto, still slightly out of breath, grinned in embarrassment and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah well, it still needs some work. I put in too much power and I still can't make them both at the same time."

"I still think it's amazing," Hinata said with a smile.

Naruto smiled back gratefully. "I think I'm gonna go home for the night. I'm beat."

"Can I walk with you?"

Naruto grinned. "Sure."

They stood up and started moving.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked after a minute.

"Yeah?"

"I was w-wondering...can I go with you to the t-trial?" Hinata asked tentatively as she stared at the ground.

Naruto's smile evaporated. "I'd rather you didn't," he said with tension in his voice.

"W-Why not?"

Naruto sighed and kicked a rock. "I don't know how I'll act when I see her again. If I freak out..." He paused for a moment and stared up at the moon. "...I don't want you to see me like that."

Hinata entwined her fingers with his. "I want to be there for you. N-No matter what," she stated firmly.

Naruto sighed and put his arms around her. "Thanks," he whispered. After a moment he let out a heavy sigh. "Okay."

Hinata held Naruto tighter. "Thank you."

They suddenly heard a loud eh-hem from in front of them and quickly broke apart.

Hinata's eyes were wide with nervousness. "O-Otou-san!"

Hiashi stood there with him arms folded. "Did you forget you have diplomacy lessons today?"

Hinata looked embarrassed. "H-Hai. Gomen, Otou-san."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hina-chan," Naruto said with a reassuring smile.

Hinata nodded and she and her father left.

The slight look of displeasure Hiashi had directed at him hadn't escaped Naruto. "I wonder if he'll ever accept me?" he thought sullenly.

Tomoyo and Naruto were in the training field again. She paced in front of Naruto with a frown on her face. "I don't know. This is kind of a family matter."

"Sasuke is my nii-san," Naruto said firmly.

Tomoyo gave him a funny look. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"Do you know about the Uchiha bonding seal?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Tomoyo looked startled for a moment before smiling. "If that's the case then of course he can come."

Naruto smiled widely. "I'll be right back!" He jumped to his feet and ran for town.

"SASUKE!" a loud voice rang through out the village. Many citizens covered their ears and glared at the green and blue blur as it flew past them.

"Quiet down!" yelled a woman who was buying some fruit.

"Sorry!" Naruto called back.

The woman shook her head and sighed. "I wonder if he'll ever stop being so loud?"

"This is taking too long." Naruto's hands formed his favorite seal. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Twelve Narutos shot off in different directions.

Sasuke sighed when the spiky-haired shadow blocked out the sun. He opened one eye. "What?"

"I need you to come with me," Naruto said excitedly.

Sasuke groaned. He'd been enjoying the quiet and really didn't feel like getting up. "Why?"

"Tomoyo-san has a surprise for us!"

Sasuke winced at the volume of his brother's voice. "Fine." He got to his feet and dusted himself off.

Naruto grinned. "Great! Meet us at training field ten!"

Sasuke blinked in surprise as the clone poofed out of existence. "I hate it when he does that."

Naruto, Tomoyo, and Sasuke walked ever deeper into the woods.

Sasuke was getting impatient. He really didn't feel like doing much of anything at that moment and walking toward a goal that he didn't know anything about held very little interest for him. He sighed and slapped the mosquito that had been attempting to procure lunch from his neck.

Tomoyo stopped walking and crouched down. She seemed to be looking for something as she dusted dirt from the forest floor. Naruto and Sasuke watched in curiosity. Suddenly, she smiled. "Found it." She stood up and pointed down at the spot that had been the focus of her little dig.

Naruto's eyebrows went up when he saw that his cousin's dusting had revealed what looked like a flat stone from a walkway. "What's this?"

Tomoyo's smile widened and she flashed through a series of seals. "Futon: kin boufuu no jutsu (A/N-Wind type: little windstorm technique)!" She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out with great force. A good sized gust of wind blew through the area in front of them, revealing a long stone path. She held out a hand in order to wave them ahead. "Follow it."

Both boys looked at Tomoyo in curiosity for a moment but did as they were instructed. As they walked Naruto began to notice other things that seemed out of place in the forest—a small dragon statue on each side of the path, lamp posts covered in vines, and finally, as they cleared the top of a hill, a long wall, also covered in vines. In the middle of this wall was a massive double door. Each side of the door had one half of a dragon molded onto it in bronze.

Naruto's heart pulsed with excitement. "Tomoyo-san...this is..." he breathed.

Tomoyo smiled. "The Namikaze complex." She looked at her cousin. "Welcome home."

...TO BE CONTINUED

::Jumps into RPR and slams the door shut just as hands are grabbing for her:: Errrrm. Hi::cough:: I know you guys wanna kill me right now but it was either cut it off there or you wait another 5 days or so for this chappy.

Radioplay news: I'm slowly putting chapter 3 together. I actually have lines in this chapter. WOOT!

Wow...I never thought so many ppl would be so pissed that I killed off such a short lived OC. I'm sorry the chapter upset you guys, but there were other reasons besides not knowing how to fit her in. I already have a ridiculous amount of prominent OCs. A fanfic should always focus on the original cast. Tomoyo is already filling the role of "relative who can teach Naruto about his family" and Haruka's death helps Sasuke think about his own life. It will come into play later. I debated a long time over whether or not to keep her alive. I consulted many friends and they all agreed this was necessary. I hope you all can forgive me.

I know I said a new edge in this chapter but I decided next chappy would be better.

Next chapter: The Namikaze complex, a new jutsu for Naruto and Kikyo's trial...