Colors of Life and Death series
Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21

Chapter 29

Naruto was belly-flopped on his bed, while blue curtains floated lazily on the breeze that wafted into his room through the open window. It had been three days since he'd had lunch with the Hyuuga's but he was starting to wonder if the butterflies in his stomach were planning on settling down and starting a family. They just would not go away. He couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened. He was terrified that Hiashi still might force the issue and make them get married right after they were of legal age. He did plan to marry Hinata but there was no way in hell he felt he would be ready till he was eighteen at least. There was also the fact that he wanted to propose to Hinata properly, not have everything planned by her father.

A knock at the door chased away his thoughts and he rolled his head towards it. "Yeah?"

"Can I come in?" asked Sakura's voice.

"Sure." Naruto sat up as Sakura entered the room.

"It's time for practice," she said with a smile.

"Okay," Naruto said as he got up and grabbed his equipment pouch. He paused in the middle of adding some extra shuriken and sighed. "Sakura-chan? Do...do you think you're gonna marry fuzzy brows?"

Sakura's cheeks turned nine levels of pink. "I...I don't know," she stuttered in embarrassment. "I mean, we're a little young to be seriously thinking about that."

"I'm gonna marry Hinata," Naruto said seriously as he sat on the floor next to his bag.

Sakura's eyes flashed wide. "You proposed?!" she asked, the pitch of her voice rising several octaves.

Naruto's expression became mortified. "No-o!" he said hurriedly. He paused for a moment and then sighed. "I just meant that I plan to ask her someday."

Sakura raised her eyebrows and sat down next to her friend. "When did you decide this?"

Naruto smiled slightly. "At Kakashi and Tomoyo-san's wedding."

Now it was Sakura's turn to smile. "Well I hope it happens, cause you two are great together."

Naruto grinned. "Thanks, Sakura-chan," he said, his nerves calming a little. "We better get going. Kakashi might actually show up on time for a change."

Both of them laughed and they stood up. Sakura opened the door but paused mid-step. "By the way—what brought that up?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he suddenly felt the need to be out of the room. "Umm, we're gonna be late. Race ya!" he said just before bolting down the hall so fast all Sakura saw was a blue and green blur.

Sakura stood there for a moment in confusion. "What was that all about?"

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke sat in the middle of the training field. Every once in a while they would glare at the empty road, sigh, and return to doing nothing. Finally Sakura looked towards the boys.

"I've been meaning to ask you two—when did you come up with that new jutsu?"

Naruto lazily lolled his head to one side. "Not long after Tomoyo-san showed me the Namikaze complex."

Sasuke cut in. "I thought he was nuts, but we pulled it off. And it only took two weeks."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You created and perfected something like that in two weeks?! But it's such a dangerous jutsu!"

Naruto chuckled. "And we nearly killed ourselves a couple times practicing too."

Sakura's expression became incredulous as Sasuke snickered at Naruto's remark. "I don't find the two of you nearly dying from creating a new jutsu without supervision funny!" she said, raising her voice slightly as she got to her feet.

Naruto stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura-chan, we're fine. Coming up with new jutsu is risky, but it kinda comes with being a ninja."

Sakura shoved his hand away. "And stupidity comes with being you, apparently!" she snapped.

Sasuke frowned and jumped to his feet as well. "Will you calm down?"

Kakashi came strolling toward them and Sakura rounded on him. "Did they tell you what they did?!" she demanded.

Kakashi just blinked for a moment. "Huh?"

Sakura pointed an accusing finger at her team mates. "They pushed themselves to finish that new jutsu in only two weeks!"

Kakashi lowered his book to his hip. "You did that in only two weeks? I'm impressed."

Now Sakura was furious. "You're supposed to be their mentor! Don't be impressed! Tell them what they did was wrong!"

Kakashi looked at Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom simply shrugged. "Well, I admit they should have had a jounin supervisor, but I'm not going to scold them for being successful at something like this. Especially when most genin couldn't even pull off the jutsu they combined to create the new one."

"AUUUGGGH!!" Sakura screamed. She then smacked both Naruto and Sasuke upside their heads before storming off down the road.

The boys looked at each other for a moment. "This is one of those times I really feel bad for Lee," Sasuke remarked.

Naruto and Kakashi nodded in agreement and the three began their practice.

"Hmpf. Deidara already had his shot," Kisame remarked in an irritated voice.

"True, but Tobi is the only one who can believably portray a genin. The rest of you are too mature," Pein replied. "And naturally Deidara has to go along seeing as how he's the only one who can get this idiot," he said pointing at Tobi, "to focus on something for more than thirty seconds."

The pout was detectable in Tobi's voice. "Heeeey. I'm not an idiot. Tobi is a good boy."

A collective sigh arose from the other Akatsuki and Pein cleared his throat. "Tobi, I need to know that you will take this mission seriously."

Tobi promptly saluted. "Osu!"

Pein sighed. "Deidara, he's in your hands."

"Nhm," Deidara confirmed.

"REALLY?!" Tenten squealed excitedly.

Tsunade squinted in pain and rubbed at her left ear. "Must you do that?"

Tenten smiled sheepishly. "Gomen, Tsunade-sama."

"And yes, really," Tsunade said with a smile. "Now that Naruto is handling some of my less important paperwork I have enough time. But since I'm still training Sakura I can only work with you once a week."

Tenten bowed. "I'm grateful for any amount of time. Arigato."

Tsunade grinned. "You're welcome. Now I need to get back to work."

"Hai! See you Friday," Tenten said. She then turned around and walked out of the office.

Naruto's pen snaked backwards as he finished off the last part of the kanji for his mother's name. He put the pen back in its holder and let out a long sigh. "Done." He paused. "Tell me again why we can't use kage bunshins to speed up the work?" he asked as put both arms above his head and cracked his knuckles.

"Because Konoha doesn't need its kage unable to fight during a time of crisis because of chakra exhaustion," Tsunade said in an exasperated tone.

"Oh come on. I have more than enough chakra to create one or two and still be fine if something happens," Naruto countered as he sat straighter.

Tsunade frowned. "Be that as it may, you need to learn that being Hokage doesn't mean making shortcuts regarding important papers."

Naruto folded his arms, leaned back, and smirked. "I think you're just jealous that you don't have enough chakra to make that kind of shortcut."

Tsunade's eye twitched. Damn it. She stabbed a finger toward the door. "Out! Before I make you do the chuunin stack too!"

Naruto laughed and poofed out of the room.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "One of these days I'm going to forget that I don't want to kill him." She sighed heavily and sat back down to her stack of papers.

Naruto had a spring in his step as he walked toward the Hyuuga complex. Granted, he was on his way to start his training in manners, but since his teacher was Hinata he really didn't mind so much. He noticed Tenten and Sasuke sitting on a bench by the side of the road, talking about something. He knew it was sort of rude, but Sakura had told him Sasuke was going to apologize to Tenten and he was curious to see how things had gone.

He masked his chakra and found a place to hide behind the trunk of an extremely large tree, then he made a kage bunshin and turned it into a chipmunk. "You know what to do," he said with a grin.

The chipmunk winked at him and scurried off towards Sasuke and Tenten.

Neji was walking home when he noticed Naruto crouched in a tree. The blond ninja was obviously watching something so Neji followed his gaze and saw the two on the bench. He frowned. What is he up to now?

Naruto didn't budge from his perch when Neji landed behind him on the branch. He simply turned a little bit and shushed him.

Neji glared. "What do you think you are doing?"

Naruto sighed a little and rolled his eyes. "Spying on them, obviously."

Neji was growing impatient. "Why?"

"Sakura told me Sasuke apologized. I wanna know if she forgave him. Now, shoosh!" Naruto whispered sharply.

Neji's frown increased but he remained silent. Truthfully, he was curious about the situation in its entirety.

The chipmunk clone sat down next to one of the legs of the bench and listened.

"It's only one day a week," Tenten said excitedly, "but I still get to learn katana techniques from my idol!"

Sasuke cocked his head to one side. "I'm happy for you, but don't you already know how to use a sword?"

"A little, but I've mostly focused my training on throwing weapons, bos and nunchucks," Tenten replied, gesturing to demonstrate the movement of each weapon.

"Oh."

"I wish I could've seen your new combo jutsu with Naruto. Sakura said it was amazing!"

The blush on Sasuke's face was barely noticeable. "Well, it still needs a little refining," he said, looking down a bit and scratching the side of his cheek.

Neji frowned as he watched the exchange. He didn't like the situation one bit.

Sasuke stopped in the middle of a sentence and looked down. That chipmunk had been there an awfully long time and hadn't been spooked by any of Tenten's excited outbursts. He frowned in thought.

Tenten, curious as to what her friend was staring at, looked down. "Aww. It's so cute!" she crooned.

Suddenly Sasuke stomped down on the chipmunk. Tenten's eyes widened in horror. "Sasuke!" But her outrage was interrupted by a familiar sound and a small puff of smoke.

Sasuke smirked in satisfaction. "I thought so." He began looking around. "Naruto, come out! I know that chipmunk was yours!"

"Crap!" Naruto hissed. He jumped off the tree and darted away into the forest.

Neji was still curious about what had gone on and followed.

Naruto came to a stop after running for about ten minutes. "Whew! That was too close."

Neji frowned. "So what were they talking about?" he asked in the most casual voice he could muster.

"Not much. Just that Tenten's gonna train with my mom and some boring stuff. He should just tell her he likes her and get it over with. He's such a wuss," Naruto replied with a smirk.

Neji looked at him with wide eyes. "Sasuke likes Tenten? Does she have feelings for him as well?"

Naruto looked confused for a second at the oddness of the question but it didn't last long. "Dunno. Probably," he said with a shrug.

Neji's frown returned. "I have to go. I'll see you later." And with that, he walked away.

Now Naruto frowned. "What the...?"

Naruto arrived at the Hyuuga complex and was met by Hinata at the front gate. He kissed her and stood straight again. "Sorry I'm late, Hina-chan. I got distracted," he said with a sheepish smile.

"That's okay, Naruto-kun. I wasn't waiting long," Hinata said with a smile.

Naruto followed her into the complex, wondering what exactly he'd be learning. He wasn't the best at manners, but since he had to learn it to be Hokage he was going to do his best.

Hinata walked into the dining room. "We'll practice in here. Father assured me we won't be interrupted." She sat down on one of the soft pillows on the floor and Naruto followed suit.

"So what's first?" Naruto asked cheerfully.

Neji felt sick to his stomach as he watched Sasuke smile and wave to Tenten before walking away from her house. As soon as he was sure Sasuke was out of sight he walked over to Tenten, who was in the process of retrieving the mail.

Tenten looked up and smiled when she saw Neji. "Yo, Neji-kun," she said cheerfully.

Neji managed to smile slightly through the emotions boiling just under the surface of his skin. "Tenten-san. I need to speak to you in private."

Tenten's smile dropped a bit. "Is something wrong?" she asked as she came down from the short set of stairs connected to the front of her house.

"I'm not sure," Neji admitted.

Tenten frowned. "We can talk in the backyard." She began walking. "Come on."

Neji nodded and followed her.

As Sasuke got further away from Tenten's house he began to get a nagging feeling he was forgetting something. Crap. My mission report. And with that thought he turned and headed back the way he'd come from.

Tenten and Neji stood on one side of her backyard, under a large tree. "So, what's up?" Tenten asked.

Neji took a long breath. "I need to talk to you about Sasuke."

Tenten's expression became confused. "About Sasuke-kun?

"What are your intentions toward him?" Neji asked seriously.

Tenten blinked rapidly. "My intentions?"

Neji sighed. "Do you look at him in a...romantic fashion?"

Tenten's eyes widened and settled back down. A faint blush crept across her cheeks. "Well, I don't know. Maybe...a little. But..." She turned away from Neji.

"But?" Neji urged her on.

Tenten folded her arms and sighed heavily. "I don't think he likes me that way. He's not someone who really wants that kind of relationship with anyone," she said sadly.

Neji, feeling hope well up inside of him, put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around. "Then...would you consider me?"

Tenten's face shot upwards and she looked at him with disbelief. "You?"

"I...I've cared for you for a long time and was waiting for the right time to say something. But...when I saw you with Sasuke this afternoon I...I thought I might have lost my chance." Neji looked into Tenten's eyes, trying to gauge her reaction to what he was saying. "I didn't want that to happen so I came here to tell you...I love you." Without another word he pressed his lips to hers.

Due to the combination of suddenly being told she was loved by Neji and, just as suddenly, being kissed by him, all she could do was just stand there with her eyes wide and her body frozen in shock. That was when Sasuke entered the yard.

As the sight of Tenten being kissed by Neji an unknown fury built up inside Uchiha Sasuke. Having never experienced such an emotion put him at a loss as to what he was supposed to do with it so he acted on the first thought that popped up through the angry haze clouding his mind—he ran to Neji, pulled him away from Tenten and punched him in the face, sending him falling to the ground. He stood in the final pose left after he'd punched Neji, breathing heavily through his teeth and shaking with anger.

Tenten's stunned state had increased for a moment but she quickly regained control of her faculties. "What the hell is going on here?!"

Neji wiped the blood from his nose and slowly stood up. "I would like to know also," he said in a dangerous tone.

Tenten rounded on him, eyes blazing. "You shut up! You're not innocent here either!"

Neji looked confused. "I don't understand. What did I do wrong?"

"You kissed me without even asking me if I liked you first!" Tenten retorted angrily. She turned to Sasuke. "And YOU! What the hell did you punch him for?!"

At that moment Sasuke seemed to wake from the rage that had spurred his actions. He looked at his closed fist in confusion and mild panic. "I..." In a flash of realization he knew exactly why he had done it...and it terrified him. He did the only thing he could think of—he ran.

"SASUKE!" Tenten called after him. She sighed in frustration and turned back to Neji, who looked like a kicked puppy. She felt terrible. The idea of breaking the heart of one of her oldest friends made her want to cry, but there was no way to change this. "Neji, I'm sorry. I just don't feel that way about you. I used to have a crush on you, but that was a couple of years ago."

Neji squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head to one side. "I understand. I...I'm sorry for kissing you."

"I know why you did, so I forgive you," Tenten replied, her eyes misting over a bit.

Neji wanted to tear his heart out of his chest, but he knew it would be a futile gesture because every part of his body ached with the pain of being rejected by the girl he loved. "I...hope you won't find this rude, but I need to leave now," he said quietly.

Tenten nodded. "I understand." As Neji reached the edge of the yard she called to him. "Neji-kun? Please don't stop being my friend," she pleaded as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Neji didn't turn around, but he did stop for a moment to give her a reassuring nod before disappearing around the edge of the fence.

Tenten didn't know what to do. She wanted to go after Sasuke and talk to him about what had happened, but she also desperately wanted to curl into a ball and wish this all away. She chose the second option and half sat, half fell to the soft grass, buried her face in her arms and prayed things would be easier in the morning.

...TO BE CONTINUED

Good grief. This "month between chapters" thing has got to stop. I just had the WORST writers block. If I hadn't been listening to "Collide" a couple days ago it might have taken even longer. ((Sweatdrop))

What's funny is I said I wanted to take SasuTen super slow and then Morgan pulls this. I'm not sure if things r gonna get resolved right away though. We'll see what Morgan's mood is when I write chapter 30. Lol.

I've noticed recently that my hits per chapter have dropped from nearly 4500 to just over 2000. Am I doing something wrong? Is it the long update times? I hope to publish a book in the near future and I need to curb any bad writing habits quickly.

Added some more stuff to the Deviant art gallery.

Next chapter sooner. I actually have ideas for the first time in a few months.

Ja na,
Song