Colors of Life and Death series
Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21

Chapter 17

Ack. Sorry this is a week late. Ever since my beta's (Well, most of them) went back to school it's been hard to catch them online and also I have six ponies to make. Lol.

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

Hinata found Naruto staring at Konoha's front gate. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled and hugged her. "Hey, Hina-chan!"

"Would you like to take a walk?" Hinata asked cheerfully.

Naruto looked back at the gate uneasily. "Ummm."

"I'm sure Tsunade-sama will send for you when they get here," Hinata offered.

Naruto glanced back at the gate once again before replying. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's go," he said, offering her his hand.

Hinata took it gladly and the two set off. She looked at his hair as they walked. The day was bright and warm, as it often was in mid-July, and the sun shone on Naruto's golden locks, giving them a soft, almost ethereal glow. She just couldn't fathom how she'd managed to have even the slightest chance with such a beautiful boy, never mind become his girlfriend. She sighed happily and rested her head on his shoulder.

Naruto felt the slight pressure on his shoulder and smiled. "I love you," he said as he 'hugged' her head with his own.

"I love you too," Hinata replied.

They walked slowly, reveling in the beauty of the day. Cool breezes brought with them the scent of fresh cut flowers from Ino's shop. When they reached the center of the village Naruto suddenly got an idea. "Hey! You wanna see the Namikaze complex?"

Hinata removed her head from Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "I'd love to!"

Naruto grinned but it quickly fell away as he saw Shikamaru heading toward them. "Aww man."

"Yo, Naruto. Tsu..." Shikamaru began.

"Yeah yeah. Baa-chan wants to see me," Naruto grumbled.

Shikamaru simply cocked an eyebrow in response.

Naruto sighed and turned to Hinata. "Sorry, Hina-chan. Looks like we'll hafta go later."

Hinata smiled. "It's okay." She gave him a quick kiss. "I can wait."

Naruto hugged her. "I'll see you soon."

Hinata nodded. "Nhm!"

Naruto frowned as he watched her walk away, then turned to Shikamaru. "Let's go," he groaned.

Shikamaru folded his arms. "I'm just the messenger, Naruto. If you want to complain, complain to Tsunade-sama when we get there," he said in a bored and slightly irritated tone.

Naruto rolled his eyes and began walking as Shikamaru took the lead. "Yeah yeah."

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome."

Naruto walked into his mother's office to find Sasuke and Sakura already seated in two of the three extra chairs in the room. He looked at them curiously and sat down.

"Okay. Now that my son has seen fit to grace us with his presence," Tsunade said with a chuckle, "I have some news for you three."

"News?" Sakura parroted.

"Well—you all know that the chuunin exams will be coming up in just over two months," Tsunade replied.

The teenagers nodded.

"I've decided that it's finally time for your second try," Tsunade said with a huge smile.

Naruto and Sakura exchanged looks of excitement while Sasuke sat there with a satisfied smirk, which was about as close to excitement as he got.

"The other teams from your graduating class will be taking the exams along with you—And so will Gai's team." Her smile seemed to change a little. "There is one thing you need to be aware of though. These exams will be taking place in Amegakure (a/n- Hidden Village of Rain)."

Looks of shock were instantly on the faces of team seven. Sakura found her voice first. "But, Tsunade-sama—Ame isn't one of the five great shinobi nations."

"And they're really unstable!" Naruto added.

Sakura looked at Naruto in surprise.

"What? You're not the only one who reads," Naruto countered indignantly.

Tsunade cleared her throat to bring her young soldiers back into focus. "It's a very central location, which makes it more convenient and Ame has some very interesting terrain. We thought it would be a good change of pace," she explained. "And besides, since we don't know much about Ame this is a good chance for some information gathering," she finished with a sly smile.

Sakura smiled in acceptance of the explanation, Sasuke looked contemplative, and Naruto looked completely unconvinced.

"Now, I expect nothing but the best from you three. Don't disappoint me," Tsunade said with a smile.

All three teens nodded and Naruto gave a loud, "Osu!" with a salute.

Tsunade chuckled. "Alright then—get outta here," she said with a short toss of her head in the direction of the door, "I got work to do."

Tomoyo sat on the playground swings thinking as she swung lazily back and forth. The soft wind should have been soothing but it only seemed to accentuate the sadness she felt. She didn't know how long she'd been there—she hadn't kept track. Even when the shadows had become long and reaching, she didn't stir...until a gentle hand slid over her shoulder.

"I thought I'd find you here," Kakashi said softly. He crouched down next to her. "Why did you run off so suddenly?"

Tomoyo's head sank a bit lower in response and it was then that Kakashi noticed the piece of paper crumpled in between her hand and the swing chain. "Oh..." He sat down and his head sunk a little as well, "...I see."

Tomoyo's soft, tear-choked voice broke the anguished silence. "There's no one." Silence. "There's no family to put on this list." She crunched the paper even more tightly so that her knuckles turned white. "They're all gone," she said as fresh tears began to fall. "My cousins, my sister, my parents, grandparents...all gone."

Kakashi looked at her. "Not all gone," he said gently. "There's a blonde boy who lives not far from here who would disagree."

"I love Naruto very much—and I'm grateful to have him—but he's not one of the faces I always imagined would see my wedding day. My father won't be there to give me away. My mom won't be there fuss over me, and fix my hair. Minato won't be there to tease me about finally acting like an adult. Noriko won't be there to...to..." she began crying loudly.

Kakashi put his arms around her. The paper dropped away from her hand and she collapsed into him.

"Are you going to simply stare at us all day or are you going to take us to the Hokage?" Gaara asked of the chuunin in front of him. He was trying his best to be patient. He knew if he was going to be Kazekage one day it was a skill he would need, but this woman was testing his last nerve. Before he met Naruto he had delighted in the fact that people were afraid of him on sight, but now it irritated him to no end.

The chuunin swallowed her fear of the young man in front of her and spoke. "Of course. Follow me please."

The orange light of the setting sun illuminated their path as Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro followed the chuunin to the Hokage tower.

Hinata stared in wonder at Naruto's family home. "It's wonderful, Naruto-kun!" She didn't know what it was, but something about the place spoke to her. She felt as if it was rich with life just waiting to be uncovered.

Naruto stepped up beside her. "Sorry we won't be able to look at it for long."

Hinata smiled at him. "That's alright. I still got to see it today." She walked over to the fountain. "I can't wait to see what it looks like when you're done fixing it."

"Yeah, well, that'll have ta wait till I make jounin. I just don't make enough money right now," Naruto said with rueful smile.

"If it's about getting someone to do the work then I'll help," Hinata offered.

"Thanks, Hina-chan." Naruto looked around for a moment. "I guess we could at least do the cleaning parts. We'd definitely need more people though."

"Naruto," Tomoyo's voice sounded behind them.

"What is it?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"Tsunade-sama needs to see you," Tomoyo explained.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "A-gain?!" he asked incredulously.

Tomoyo giggled. "Don't worry. You'll be happy about this visit," she said with a wink.

Naruto grinned when he saw the Suna siblings. "Hey, Gaara!" he said loudly.

The boy in question covered his ears and winced at the volume coming from his friend. Once he thought the danger of eardrum destruction was past he uncovered his ears and spoke. "Hello, Naruto," he said with an attempt at a smile.

Naruto put his hands on the desk, push upwards and swiveled himself around so that his butt landed on the front edge of Tsunade's desk—scattering a few papers as he did so.

Tsunade's face fell into a deep frown. "Oi," she said in a low tone as she folded her arms.

Naruto was too excited to notice. He leaned forward towards the Suna siblings. "So! So! Where is it?"

Tsunade's eyebrow began to twitch and her arms unfolded, leaving her right hand free to form a fist. "Oi..."

"What kind of scroll is it?!" Naruto continued.

"Get your butt off my desk!" Tsunade yelled while simultaneously using her arm to sweep her son off sideways and onto the floor. He landed in a heap next to the wall to her left.

Naruto sat up quickly. "That hurt, Baa-chan!"

Tsunade folded her arms once again—this time in satisfaction—and raised her eyebrows. "Stay off my desk next time."

While Naruto fumed Temari brought a large scroll out of the bag she had with her. Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise. "That's much bigger than I was expecting. Do you know what's in it?"

Temari shook her head. "No one can get it open. It has a blood seal."

Naruto had long since stopped fuming and was now paying rapt attention. "A blood seal? You mean only someone from my family can open it?"

Temari nodded and held out the scroll. "Here. I'm curious as hell about what's in this thing," she said with wry smile.

Naruto stood and gingerly took the scroll from Temari's hands. He turned it until he saw a seal in the middle on one side. Thanks to his training with Tomoyo and his contract with the frogs he knew exactly how to open it. He bit down on the pad of his thumb and pressed it to the center of the seal. There was a popping sound along with a small puff of smoke and the edge of the scroll fell loose.

He sat down on the floor and proceeded to carefully unroll his bit of family heritage. When it was fully open for all to see both he and Tsunade gasped. "Kaa-san...that's..."

"I know," Tsunade answered quietly.

Kankuro was getting irritated. "Well? What is it already?!"

Naruto spoke up. "It's a summoning contract...for dragons," he said in disbelieving awe.

Temari's expression went from shock to outright skepticism. "What?! Dragons aren't real."

Naruto looked at Temari defensively. "It's right there!" he said as he jabbed his fingers at the contract.

Tsunade also looked skeptical. "I don't want to believe they came all this way for a work of fiction, Naruto, but Temari does make a point," she said carefully.

Naruto frowned and quickly rolled up his scroll. "My clan wouldn't put a blood seal on something that was fake!" He stood up. "And I'll prove it!" He stalked out of the office.

"Naruto!" Tsunade called out. When he didn't return she sighed heavily. "I'm sorry about that. He can be really headstrong sometimes."

Kankuro cocked an eyebrow. "We noticed."

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Yes, well...seeing as how it's so late, would you like to stay in Konoha for the night?"

"Yes—thank you," Temari replied with a polite nod.

Tsunade smiled. "Shikamaru."

Shikamaru appeared quickly. "Hai, Tsunade-sama?"

"Please make sure that our guests have comfortable rooms for the night."

Shikamaru sighed inwardly. He was starting to wonder why he bothered becoming a chuunin in the first place, seeing as how most of the time he was nothing more than a glorified messenger boy. "Hai."

As Shikamaru and the Suna team walked toward the inn Temari couldn't stop herself from making occasional glances in the direction of her guide's rear end. It irritated her to no end that she was attracted to such a weakling—albeit an incredibly smart, kinda cute weakling. "Damn my hormones," she grumbled in her mind.

They stopped at a long, two-story building and Shikamaru handed Temari a set of keys. "Here. Just tell them you want the guest rooms," he said before turning around to leave.

"Shikamaru..." Temari began.

The boy in question turned around. "Yeah?"

"Night," Temari finished pathetically, silently cursing herself for not coming up with something more interesting.

Shikamaru smirked, then smiled. "Night."

Shikamaru walked away and Temari sighed with disappointment. As the siblings walked into the building she noticed Kankuro covering his mouth with his hand as he snickered. "Shut the hell up or I'm gonna shove that puppet up your ass."

Kankuro's eyes widened. He instantly stopped laughing and put a few more feet of distance between himself and his sister.

Naruto knew he had acted childish, but he couldn't help it. He'd spent all day in anticipation of the scroll he now held and there was a very good chance it was nothing but junk. He knew there was probably no point to it, but made his way through the streets to his house, ran up to his room and grabbed a flashlight. If he was going to try this then there was only one safe place.
Naruto sat in the middle of the Namikaze training field with the unrolled scroll on the ground in front of him. The blood pounded in his ears as he bit the pad of his left thumb and dabbed the resulting blood on each of his other fingers. He signed the contract—which had on it a couple other names he didn't recognize—and was about to press his fingers down at the bottom—the same as he had done with the frog scroll. Suddenly, an image of Gama Bunta flashed through his mind and then a memory of a conversation he'd had with Jiraiya while they had been training together.

(("Hey, Ero sennin?" Naruto asked as they made their way toward the town they would be staying at for a few days.

Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched. "Yeah?"

"Now that I have so much more chakra, can I get some more summons? It would be so cool so summon dogs like Kakashi sensei," Naruto said with a grin.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Sorry. No can do."

Naruto frowned. "Why?"

"Because you can't have more than one summoning contract at a time. You are bound to the contract by blood and to take another contract would break that bond."

Naruto hung his head in disappointment.))

Naruto stared at the contract for a moment, his hand hovering above the space for his fingerprints. He swallowed, realizing just how close he'd come to seriously screwing up. "I'd better talk to Ero-sennin first," with that, he rolled up the scroll and headed home.

...TO BE CONTINUED

Okay, I know some of you are screaming "overpowered" about the whole dragons thing, but please trust me. I have a way to balance things. :)

Had to get some TemShika in there. I love those two together.

Again, sorry bout how late this chap was. Hopefully next one will be Saturday or Sunday. :)

Ja na,

Song