Colors of Life and Death series
Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21

Chapter 13

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"The Namikaze complex..." Naruto whispered in wide-eyed wonder. He walked forward and slowly ran his hand over the dragon on the front gate.

Tomoyo held up an ornate key, which glinted in the beams of sunlight that broke through the leaves above. "Let's see if this thing still works." She walked up to the gate, inserted the key and turned it. She smiled when the lock clicked. "After you," she said to Naruto with a wave.

Naruto took a deep breath and, with some effort, pushed open the heavy wooden doors. It wasn't quite what he was expecting. It looked somewhat like the Uchiha complex in basic layout, but it was a little smaller and quite run down. The dragons were everywhere—in signs, in sculptures—there was even a fountain in the center of a snake-like dragon wound around a tall, thin stone. It looked like, at one time, the great mouth of this dragon had had water pouring from it.

Sasuke looked around as though he were thinking of bad memories. He didn't like being in clan compounds—they reminded him of what he once had. It was the very reason he had opted to live in his own apartment rather than the ancestral grounds of his family.

Tomoyo stepped up next to Naruto, who was still staring at the fountain. "The dragon was our clan symbol." She walked over and touched the fountain's face. "My grandmother told me that long ago, our clan was able to summon them."

Naruto's eyes widened and he turned to Tomoyo. "Dragons?!"

Tomoyo nodded. "Nhm. But the contract was lost several generations ago—if it even really existed, that is." She looked around at the state of her family's home. Most of the buildings had some structural damage to them, but nothing severe. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be—Although there was still the problem of the vines that were everywhere, and the trees that had so rudely burst through some parts of the once pristine streets. She sighed. "So...still want to try and fix up this dump?" she said with a bemused smile.

A determined look set onto Naruto's face. "More than ever."

Naruto knelt on the somewhat uncomfortable bench-like pillow with a tightness in his chest. He squeezed Hinata's hand, who returned the gesture. Sakura, Sasuke, and the rest of his class all sat around him. Lee, TenTen and Neji were there also. The rest of the 'seats' were filled with other Konoha citizens.

Tsunade sat down on a large pillow which was on a slightly raised section of floor at the head of the room. She had actually bothered to wear her Hokage robes, which only showed how seriously she took the entire matter. She turned to Kurenai, who had been standing to her right. "Bring her in."

Kurenai nodded. "Hai, Tsunade-sama." Discarding flashy ninja exits for the sake of the atmosphere, she walked out of the room. A few seconds later she reappeared, leading a nervous looking Kikyo.

Naruto felt his teeth clench of their own accord as he watched the object of his hatred walk past him. Hinata squeezed his hand again in a show of support.

Kurenai made Kikyo kneel on a small pillow on the floor in front of Tsunade. Once Kurenai had resumed her previous position Tsunade spoke. "Yuuchi Kikyo. You are here today on charges of assault with the intent to kill, and first degree murder. Due to the fact that there isn't a chance in hell of you being acquitted, this trial is mainly a formality. I will, however, allow you one attempt at convincing me not to have you gutted," she said with a grim finality.

A positively horrified Kikyo sat there with her mouth hanging open. She hadn't been expecting the Hokage to take such a strong stance on Naruto's side. She swallowed and spoke. "I did...what anyone loyal to Konoha would have done," she began slowly in a shaky voice, "I rid us of someone who sympathized with an evil monster that killed hundreds of our citizens." Her face was now etched with an expression of indignant anger. She stood, and pointed sharply at Naruto. "And anyone who attempts to kill this thing should be praised as a hero, not brought to trial," she said bravely in the hopes of garnering support from her peers. She sat back down, her head held high in defiance.

Tsunade barely managed to control the rage that was welling up inside of her. She turned to the onlookers. "Would anyone else like to say something relating to this case?" She scanned the crowd and the knot in her stomach tightened when a man actually had the balls to stand up. But what came out of his mouth, was not what she had expected.

He looked around at the others in the room, took a deep breath, and spoke. "I don't know about anyone else, but I hold nothing against Naruto." He turned toward the boy in question. "Yes, I was afraid of him until I knew more about his seal, but I never hated him. What I do hate," he turned to Kikyo, "are close-minded people like her—People who hate others without having all the facts. I say give her to Naruto and let him decide her punishment."

All but one of the villagers nodded or made sounds of agreement. Naruto had a truly grateful smile on his face. Tears streamed down Kikyo's face as she stared in disbelief at her peers.

Tsunade, smiling, turned to her son. "Well, Naruto? You heard them. What do you think Kikyo's punishment should be?"

Naruto just sat there, flabbergasted. So many ideas ran through his head that he had trouble sorting them out. Suddenly, his expression turned to ice—and when he spoke his voice seemed to bring down the temperature of the room by several degrees. "Ikijigoku no jutsu (A/N-Living hell technique)."

Everyone in the room looked confused. "What is that?" A woman in her early thirties whispered to her husband. The husband shrugged.

All the color had drained from Tsunade's face. She knew exactly what Naruto was talking about. "H...How do you know about that technique?"

"I'll tell you later," Naruto replied.

After a moment Tsunade cleared her throat. "Are you sure this is what you want?" she asked carefully.

"I want her to know what it's like...to be in her own personal hell," Naruto said bitterly.

Tsunade swallowed before nodding. "Alright then. Yuuchi Kikyo. You are hereby sentenced to Ikijigoku no jutsu. This will be carried out tomorrow morning at eight a.m. Kurenai...take her back to her cell."

Kurenai nodded and grabbed Kikyo by the elbow. This action seemed to snap Kikyo out of her stunned trance. "NO! Nooooo!" She struggled against Kurenai's grip to no avail. "Let me go!" she screamed just as the doors were shut behind her.

Everyone got up to leave and Tsunade walked over to her son. "Naruto, can you stay behind for a few minutes?" she asked quietly.

Naruto nodded.

"May I stay, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked.

Tsunade frowned in thought, and was about to refuse the request when she saw Hinata squeeze Naruto's hand. This caused her to remember that the last time she'd left Hinata out of the loop it hadn't turned out so well. "Alright." She turned to her son. "How did you find out about that jutsu? It's forbidden."

Naruto looked as though he were trying to decide how to start. "Do you know about the whole thing with Mizuki just before I graduated?"

"Yes. He tricked you into stealing..." Realization dawned on Tsunade's face. "Of course." Her hand went to her forehead and she sighed. "I should have known. You learned kage bunshin from the forbidden scroll, didn't you?"

Naruto nodded.

"All this time I assumed Kakashi taught it to you. And of course you would have looked at the other jutsu on the list." Her expression became grave. "You know what this jutsu will do to her?"

Naruto set his jaw. "I do."

"What will it do, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked tentatively.

"Ikijigoku is a jutsu I hoped I'd never have to use again. I've only done it once. It paralyzes a person completely. They can't move, can't speak—they can't even turn their head. It basically turns them into a statue with a soul."

Hinata gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.

"I created Ikijigoku in order to punish the man who killed Nawaki. The man died a few years before I came back to the village, but I was told by the nurse that there wasn't a day gone by when his eyes hadn't begged for death." Her eyes showed a bit of shame. "I'll do this Naruto, but only because it's for you," Tsunade said firmly.

"I know." Naruto hugged his mother. "Arigato, Kaa-san," he said with a whisper that suggested he was holding back tears.

The room was deep in the hidden caverns of the Hokage monument. It was at least fifty feet in diameter, dark, damp, and completely isolated. Torches, dancing with flame, were the only illumination. Naruto was leaning against the wall, watching his mother—his eyes occasionally darting to Kikyo, who sat in the middle of a huge sealing circle. Two jounin guarded the only exit and Shizune stood next to Naruto, her left arm around his shoulders in a gesture of support. Sasuke sat on the floor near them, looking indifferent.

Hinata had asked to go with Naruto, but he had declined her request. It wasn't something he wanted someone as sensitive as her to see.

Tears poured from Kikyo's eyes as Tsunade finished the last of the seals on her body and began the hand seals that would complete the jutsu. "You can't do this! It's inhuman!" she cried. She struggled against her bonds, but she was held fast by the ropes that held her to the heavy iron chair she sat on.

Tsunade looked up as she performed the seals. "That's a funny statement...coming from you."

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!!" Kikyo screamed again and again.

Tsunade's hands moved faster. She didn't know how much more she could take of the woman's caterwauling and not give in. Finally, the last seal was formed. "Ikijigoku no jutsu!" She slammed her hands down on the edge of the sealing circle and it began to glow.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Kikyo screamed as the sealing symbols snaked their way onto her body and disappeared into her head.

Shizune felt Naruto recoil a bit at the scene in front of him and gave his shoulders a short squeeze. "It'll be over soon," she whispered. But she had mistaken the reason for his shudder.

"I hope not..." Naruto said in a bitterly cold voice.

Shizune looked at him in disbelief. The expression he wore made her breath hitch in her throat. "Naruto...kun?"

"I want her to scream forever..." The look on Naruto's face was one of barely controlled rage and hatred. "...for Haruka-nee-san."

Sasuke was sitting outside his apartment on the small porch-roof-like overhang that connected to the building under his living room window. An image of Naruto's face during Kikyo's sealing came into his mind and he sighed. It was a little saddening to see his brother like that. If it had been Itachi, Sasuke would have gleefully drawn the seals on his body himself. But to see Naruto wishing for such extreme suffering of a person to continue forever was just...unnatural—like saying the sun could suddenly produce rain. "That wasn't Naruto."

"Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked down into the street and saw TenTen waving up at him. "What?"

"You wanna spar?"

Sasuke appeared to think about it for a moment. "Yeah. I'll be down in a minute."

TenTen nodded with a smile as Sasuke disappeared into his apartment.

Sasuke grabbed a few weapons and leapt out the window to street level. "Let's go," he said nonchalantly.

Sasuke adjusted and readjusted his grip on the unfamiliar weapon in his hands. Truthfully, he much preferred kunai or straight hand to hand. "Tell me again why I agreed to this?"

TenTen readied the bo staff in her hands. "Because any other weapons I use could seriously maim you?" she said with a feral smile.

"If you could even get close to me," Sasuke said with a smirk.

TenTen raised her bo to an attack stance. "Heh. You aren't lucky enough to have giant fan to blow away my weapons."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that. The only knowledge he had of her fighting ability was what Naruto had told him of her fight against Temari. "Let's see what you've got," he said with a smile.

"Happy to oblige," TenTen replied.

Both teenagers rushed forward. Sasuke was a little faster so they met more on TenTen's side than in the middle. Their staffs hit each other, making an 'X' and a loud crack that resonated through the trees.

"You're strong—I'll give you that," Sasuke said as he struggled to keep his staff from losing the pushing match.

"You don't know the half of it!" TenTen put on a burst of strength, pushing Sasuke's staff hard to the right and then upwards. This freed her staff for a split second, letting her swing the end at his legs. He barely dodged it.

TenTen swung her staff in an arc, forcing Sasuke to put his up in a horizontal guard. Already he was wishing he hadn't agreed to not use his sharingan. His unfamiliarity with the weapon was a disadvantage. He'd been given a run down on the basics before she gave him the staff, but that was it. He managed to shove her far enough away that he could get his weapon back into an offensive stance and then blocked several frontal attacks. They both jumped backwards and stood there for a moment, breathing hard.

"Not bad for a beginner," TenTen admitted.

"Thanks, but I won't be for long," Sasuke replied smugly between breaths.

"Heh. You're about to find out why I'm called a weapons expert." TenTen charged forward again.

Tsunade sat across from Tomoyo in her office. Her face showed she was deciding on something. "Do you think he's ready?"

Tomoyo nodded. "If he works hard at it."

Tsunade smirked. "If there's anyone good at working hard, it's Naruto. Go ahead."

Tomoyo smiled widely. "Thank you Tsunade-sama."

"I don't know, Sakura-san," Lee said with an uncertain expression. They were sitting on the couch in Sakura's living room. He protectively rubbed a hand over the green suit that he'd worn so long. "Gai sensei would be very disappointed."

"Don't you think it was time you were your own person?" Sakura asked as she placed her hand on his.

Lee frowned. "I guess...but I really do like my suit."

"It could still be green," Sakura mentioned in an attempt at compromise.

"Sakura-san...do you like me for who I am?"

Sakura blinked for a moment, as the question had caught her by surprise. She smiled and put her hand on his cheek. "Of course I do."

Lee looked down. "Then why do you keep trying to change me?"

Sakura looked a little stunned. "I..."

"I grew my hair out for you. I even changed the style. I mean, I like my hair this way, but I want to have something that's still me."

Sakura looked down—ashamed. "You're right. I'm sorry, Lee-kun. I won't ask again." She looked up at him. "Can you forgive me?" she asked with a worried expression.

Lee smiled softly. "Of course I can." He pulled her into his arms.

"I love you, Lee-kun." Sakura pulled out of the hug and smiled. "And I'd love you if you dyed your hair green to match your suit." she said as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Please don't do that though," she added quickly.

Lee laughed. "I won't"

Naruto looked up from his ramen when he heard a knock on the door but went back to eating. Since his mother was the Hokage he was fairly used to strangers coming to the house all day and it had somewhat desensitized him to the excitement of visitors. His interest was reinstated, however, when Izumi came back in and told him the visitor was for him.
Tomoyo's face brightened as Naruto entered the living room. "Hi, Naruto."

"Hi." Naruto replied with a smile. "What's up?"

"Come to the complex with me. There's something I wanna show you," Tomoyo said with a grin.

"I thought you showed me the whole place already?"

"I did."

Naruto was extremely confused. "Huh?"

"And bring Minato's kunai."

"Why?"

Tomoyo smirked. "You'll see"

Naruto looked around him. He and Tomoyo were in the middle of the Namikaze private training field that was adjacent to the backside of the complex. It was a fairly large field—about the size of four football fields—but it was horribly overgrown. The only things that really clued anyone into the fact that it was indeed a training field were the training dummies and a few cracked trees here and there.

"Okay," Tomoyo began, "I brought you here to train on some new techniques."

Naruto looked around the field with a skeptical eye. "How can I learn anything here? There's no room."

Tomoyo smiled. "Well, for this stage of the training you won't need much room. I only chose this field for nostalgia sake." She picked a clear spot on the ground and sat down, motioning for Naruto to do the same.

Naruto sat and watched curiously as Tomoyo brought out a writing brush, a bottle of ink, and some sheets of paper. "What's that for? I'm not gonna be learning some sissy brush jutsu am I?"

Tomoyo shook her head fervently. "No no no. I would never do that to you. You're gonna be practicing sealing jutsus," she said as she opened the ink bottle. "This stuff is just for you to take notes," she said, handing him the brush.

Naruto eyed the paper and brush skeptically. "But I've never done seals."

"I know, but you've got to learn them if you're going to use this technique."

"What's it called?"

Tomoyo gave her younger cousin a broad smile. "Hiraishin no Jutsu..."

...TO BE CONTINUED

Hiraishin no Jutsu--Flying Thunder God Technique

Now, before I have people complaining that Naruto is learning an 'S' class jutsu so fast...he's not. It'll be another few chapters till he actually gets around to Hiraishin. Seals first, then Shunshin no Jutsu, and theeeeeen Hiraishin.

I'm sorry for not getting this chapter out to you last Saturday. The word count kinda got away from me ((Glares at Morgan)). I am going to try and keep up this pace though. Chapters will, for the most part, be released on Saturday's or Sundays—one per week (Unless it's a longer chapter or my beta readers aren't around enough for me to work).

I gotta say, a lot of the reviews that dealt with Haruka's death hurt me. I mean, there was one that said they had been reading since the beginning of book 1 and that they felt like quitting reading the fic over it (That one had me depressed for hours). I know tragedy is bad. I didn't enjoy killing her off (Like some of you seem to think). She had to die for the story. Please, please forgive me for this one thing? I promise everything will be happy in the end.

I hope you liked Kikyo's punishment. I certainly enjoyed making her scream. ((Evil grin))

On a side note: Crakbaby helped me with the reason Naruto knew about the technique (Originally he was going to have found it on a scroll in Tsunade's office). He also helped me iron out some of the details for Kikyo's punishment (I was going to seal her into a wooden doll). So thank you, Crak. :)