A heavy sigh escaped Kameko's lips. Today would be the last day that her small group would be in Konoha. They would be leaving tomorrow morning, planning to travel around for a few months before beginning to make their way to the Land of Wind.

She had grown to like Konoha. The atmosphere was peaceful here, it was calming. People didn't seem to really notice her here and she liked that. When she was here before she started her training, the village had been attacked and everyone was on alert. She was able to relax here now. She was going to miss it here.

Training for Kameko had been a nice break from her worries. She was able to learn under Lady Tsunade and was taught how to become a healer. Her skills were still those of an apprentice, seeing as she only had a few months to learn, but she knew how to focus her chakra to heal wounds and help keep the skin from scarring. Learning how to heal was what Kameko did while Jun focused on honing his kekkei genkai. Kameko hadn't trained with her power ever since the incident, there would be no point since she wouldn't see anything that she would perceive as useful.

Aside from that, the duo had worked on their weaponry skills, building muscle, agility, the works. Lady Tsunade also had Shizune teach them what she knew about diplomacy, to help for when they would take over Kameko's mother's position. It would be a team effort to some extent.

Kameko was preparing breakfast when Isao and Jun joined her. The silence between them was mutual. None of them really liked leaving after staying in one place for so long, but they knew they had to. And so the silence stretched into breakfast and stayed until it was time for them to leave to meet Tsunade and the others for dinner.

They were meeting in the Hokage's residence, in a dining hall that was reserved for large events, or in this case a dinner that was reserved as a goodbye party. Kameko was unused to this kind of treatment, so she was glad when it was also a way for them to welcome home a ninja who had been away for some time now.

The blonde haired boy had introduced himself as Naruto. He was a little too... Much, for Kameko, but he and Jun got along instantly. Both boys were rowdy and loud, making up most of the noise that filled up the room. Kameko made small talk with the others there, shinobi their age that she had grown to be fond of while she was there. She had particularly gotten along with a girl named Hinata. Like Kameko, Hinata was set to be the next head of her family. Hinata was a shy girl in a differing way from Kameko. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but whatever it was it made Kameko want to protect her, not that Hinata couldn't take care of herself. She had proven time and again that she was a worthy fighter.

However, Hinata had never mentioned her infatuation for the blonde haired ninja that was being celebrated along with her. Kameko couldn't hide the smile that formed on her lips as she brought her drink up to sip at.

"Why don't you tell him how you feel?" Her questioned had startled Hinata, as the other girl swung around so quickly she almost hit the person sitting beside her with her long dark hair.

"What?" She gasped out. Hinata brought her hand up to cover her mouth as she always did when embarrassed.

"You know what I mean. You like Naruto, don't you? Why don't you tell him?" She sat the cup down and watched her cousin who was arm wrestling his new friend.

The look of uncertainty on Hinata's face pinched at Kameko's emotions. How horrible it must be to feel so deeply for someone but not be able to tell them how you feel. She was almost thankful she would never have the chance to experience that.

"He doesn't feel the same way," Hinata stated simply. "He's in love with Sakura. I couldn't force my feelings on him." She looked down at her lap, trying to hide the red that overtook her face.

Kameko placed a supportive hand over Hinata's and gave a generous smile, a rare one.

"He'll come around," she said. "I know he will." Hinata looked at her with shock, then smiled and nodded, seeming to have new hope.

The night continued on, drinks being passed around, any alcohol avoiding those who weren't quite yet of age. It was well past midnight when Kameko with Jun and Isao left the party to return to their apartment for the last time.

Kameko laid down in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was finding it hard to fall asleep tonight and blamed it on the nerves of having to begin traveling again tomorrow. Perhaps she would come to visit Konoha again after all of her training was done. Her last stop was Suna after all, and in a few months time after she turned sixteen she would be there. Instead of that cheering her up though it only caused her to frown. It was still another six months before her birthday and then she would be in Suna for just as long, so that meant at least another year before she could return here. She let out a sigh to match the one she released this morning and rolled over onto her side.

Eventually, she did find sleep.

Everything was blue. A dirty, dark blue, the air rippling like waves all around her. The air was thick and she found it hard to breathe. She could hear somewhere behind her something pulsating, could feel the energy coming from it. But no matter where she turned to find the source, she couldn't see it.

"Hello?" She called out. Surely this wasn't what she thought it was. Surely she wasn't dreaming.

She could have sworn she heard a voice calling for her from the energy. But she just couldn't find it, she couldn't find them. Her head whipped back and forth, trying desperately to get a hold of it.

"Please..." The voice called out.

"I'm trying!" She yelled. "Where are you? I can't find you," her voice cracked partly on 'you'. If she could just find them...

Something within the rippling blue caught her eye. Something fuzzy, she couldn't quite make out its shape. But she just knew that this was the person calling out for her, knew this is where the puslating power was coming from. She started to run to it, but found herself falling, falling too fast to stop and catch herself.

She woke up screaming. Isao was there within seconds, followed by Jun. Her throat was raw and she knew the scream that had released from it was blood curdling. Isao was pushing her hair from her face, asking Jun to bring a cold wet cloth to wipe her face off, he steadied her in her bed, helping her sit upright. Kameko was sweating despite the cold air around her.

She finally heard him speaking to her. "Kameko dear, what in the world is happening? What is wrong?" She didn't understand what he was saying at first, she heard the words but they didn't register. A squeeze to her shoulder and a shake of her head brought her back to reality.

"I... I think I was dreaming." Her throat was dry and raspy as she spoke and was so thankful when she saw Jun return with water and a wet cloth. Isao began to wipe her face off and she drank greedily. "I don't understand, I shouldn't be able to dream. But this was odd, it felt real, like it was actually happening. Or would happen. I don't know," she rasped.

Isao was silent, his hand ran over his face, trying to help him focus. "I believe it was just a fluke of some sort..." he started. "Is this the first time this has happened?" She nodded. "Then we won't worry about it too much right now, we'll be patient and deal with it when we return home, I'm sure your mother will know something about this." He gave her a smile and squeezed her shoulder before returning to his room.

Jun lingered behind, staying in the room. He moved closer to her, a frown on his face. "He knows something," he whispered. "He's just not telling us." He went between staring at the door and at her. "Do you need to me stay with you?"

She shook her head and pushed his shoulder. "I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't need big bad Jun to save me from nightmares anymore," she chuckled. "I'll be fine, go back to bed." She watched him nod and leave, saying a goodnight before heading back to bed.

Kameko was hesitant to actually go back to sleep that night, but she knew that she would have to so she could be well rested for the journey back home. It would be a break from her lessons, and she was very happy to be going home to see her mother again.

When she fell asleep that night she didn't dream again.

She woke up tired and her dis-colored eye hurt her. Her hand went up to cover it, blocking out the light that was streaming in through the window. The sun was just rising and she knew they would be leaving soon.

When she walked through to the living room she saw that Isao and Jun had already gotten everything packed and were finishing making breakfast.

"Ah, we were just about to come and wake you to eat. Come on and sit down and once we're all done we'll head out." Kameko did as Isao instructed and started eating, trying to avoid eye contact. "Your eye looks strained, are you feeling fine?"

She looked to Jun whose face said 'told you so' and nodded at Isao. "It's sore, but that's all. I should be fine to travel."

The rest of the meal was spent in silence. They eventually cleared the dishes, grabbed their belongings and headed for the village gates. There they met with Tsuande, Shizune, Sakura, Naruto, and the man named Jaraiya who said he had been training Naruto the time they were gone. Kameko thanked Tsunade for allowing them to stay in her village and to be under her tutorage, and thanked Sakura and Shizune for assisting as well. They all bowed to show their respect, returned the keys to their temporary home, and mounted their horses.

They said their final goodbyes and finally left the place they called home for the last six months. It would be just a few days before they made it back to their real home.

Kameko couldn't explain why she felt so tired as she and her companions entered the village gates of her home. To her, the trip had felt twice as long as it really was. She hadn't had that dream again, if you could even call it a dream. The contents of the dream still plagued her mind and it practically drove her crazy trying to decipher it, but Jun, who noticed how bothered she was, had told her that worrying over it wouldn't help anyone. So far it had only caused her to be restless.

"Kameko!" Her gaze shot up to the voice that called out from her. Seeing the owner of the voice she quickly dismounted her horse, almost getting her foot stuck in the stirrup, and ran to her mother. She almost melted in her arms, feeling so relieved to finally be home and to not have to worry any longer while she was home. She would only be home a week before traveling again, but she would definitely make the time they spent together worth while.

"Mother," she breathed. As she inhaled she got a large whiff of chamomile, the scent her mother often used. It was so calming to her. She could feel her mother chuckling, running her hand over Kameko's hair, enjoying how childlike her daughter was in that moment.

"Welcome home," her mother said. "Let's get you a bath and a hot meal, then we can talk about your journey so far, yeah?"

A/N: Oh man, I know this chapter jumps around a teeny bit, but I really wanted to start getting to the meat of this! I really hope the dream scene is okay, and hopefully it hints well enough at what's happening. If not, I'll still be happy! Thanks all for reading!