A/N: Hello, everyone! Welcome to the third installment of my Vision of Truth series. This part will cover much of Naruto Shippuden. Keep in mind that not everything will follow the anime exactly. There were will be some significant changes. However, the changes all stem from the addition of my character, Katsumi, into the story. Some of the changes she works to create intentionally and others come about from the mere fact of her existence (the butterfly effect and all that). I hope it all makes logical sense. Feel free to ask me any questions. Enjoy!


"And I need you
And I miss you
And now I wonder

If I could fall into the sky
Do you think time would pass me by?
'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles
If I could just see you tonight
"

- "A Thousand Mile" by Vanessa Carlton

Chapter 1: Adjusting

I raced through the woods, heart pounding. I was not aware of who was after me, but I knew I had to run. Where were my teammates? My senses, strangely, told me nothing. I was in danger. That was all that mattered. I saw something fly over my head. Then I heard the sound of an explosion behind me.

I turned around. I saw nothing, but I knew my pursuer was gone. A sound caused me to look ahead again. Relief flooded me when I saw Deidara standing there. Before I could greet him, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him. "Come on," he said. "We have to get out of here."

I ran with him through the trees. "Where are we going?"

He grinned back at me. "You'll see." We arrived at his clay bird, and I did not hesitate to climb on after him. I relaxed as we flew over the woods, the danger long behind us. We landed atop a hill filled with flowers of all colors. I hopped onto the grass and looked around in awe. "It's beautiful."

"I know." Deidara pulled me into a hug, and I immediately relaxed against him. I closed my eyes as my senses took him in. Before I knew it, tears pricked my eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I just really miss you."

Deidara gently stroked my hair. "I'm here now."

"But it's not real. You're not out there." Somehow I knew this was a dream. He was no longer with me.

"Then stay with me."

"What?" I pulled back, and he smiled at me.

"Stay here with me." He rested his forehead against mine. "Stay."

I wanted to stay with him. For the first time in my life, I did not want to wake up and face reality. I wanted to be with Deidara. Maybe it would do no harm to stay little longer...

"Katsumi," said a voice fro above, "it's time to wake up."

My mind whirled with confusion. Where was I again? What was going on? No one ever tried to wake me up, except...

"Itachi?" I said groggily, blinked my eyes opened.

"No, it's only me." I sat up and finally saw Naruto standing beside my bed. He rubbed the back of his neck. "You must still be having issues adjusting."

"I'm sorry. I'm fine. I'm just used to Itachi waking me up everyday to go train." Although I did miss him, he was not the reason I had problems moving on. I had learned how to miss people through years. I learned how to take my mind off first Sasuke and then Naruto. It was not easy, but I could go quite awhile without feeling the pang of them being gone. However, a day did not go by that I did not think about Deidara. Nothing I did could get him out of my mind. Many times I thought my initial view of love to be correct. It sucked.

Naruto grinned at me. "We can train if you want to."

"No thanks. It's too early for that." I stifled a yawn. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure you're doing alright and remind you that Grandma Tsunade wants to meet with us after lunch."

"Oh, that's right." Something about reinstating our team.

'We're going to go on missions again! Isn't that great?" A troubled look crossed his face. "Unless you're not ready for that. We can wait a little longer for you to recover."

I shook my head. "No, I'll be fine, but thanks for worrying." Truthfully, I was not thrilled about returning on missions, but I did not want to dampen Naruto's enthusiasm. Besides, the sooner things got back to normal, the sooner I could get over everything... hopefully. "I need to get ready and do a few things, but I'll see you later, okay?"

Naruto brightened. "Okay!" He headed out of the room, pausing at the door. "If there is something bothering you, I'll help you with it. Just let me know what is on your mind. I promised you, remember?"

I gave him a small smile. "Yeah, you did. Thanks, Naruto." He had promised to help me save Deidara and everyone else I cared about. With that kind of assurance, how could I not have the strength to start the day? Everything would turn out fine as long as we worked together.

I dressed in my normal attire and made my way downstairs for breakfast. My family was especially nice to me after my stay with the Akatsuki - even my grandfather. I found it a little forced, but I was not about to complain. After eating, I checked the time. I knew where I wanted to start my day.

Kakashi's habits had not changed since I had been gone. I found him at the Memorial Stone, his back to me. My heart was heavier than normal. I would have avoided visiting him here, but I did not want him to think anything was wrong. If he started asking the wrong questions, I did not know how I would respond. Normally, I believed in being open and honest with information, but how could I tell him the truth about Obito?

I kept my head down, but I felt his eyes on me as I walked up to him. I pushed back the waves of guilt. I knew he of all people deserved to know the truth. And yet, what good would it do him when I did not have a plan? I would merely cause him pain. Maybe that was why Obito did not mind revealing his identity to me. He knew I would not tell Kakashi. Some day I would have to do it. I was determined to save Obito, and I could not do it without Kakashi's help. Someday, but not today.

"We can reschedule the meeting today," Kakashi said softly. "If you need more time-"

"No," I said. "I need to get back to work. I can't keep sitting around and doing nothing. I need to be productive."

"Alright, as you wish." He paused. "If you need to talk, I am here."

"Thank you." I doubted there was anything he could do, but I appreciated the thought.

I walked out with him, and then we parted. I strolled through the village, ignoring the looks - or lack of looks - the villagers gave me. Everyone knew about my kidnapping by now. I wondered how long it would take for everything to go back to normal. I did not appreciate the extra attention.

"Hey, Katsumi!" Sakura said from down the street, giving me a wave.

I smiled slightly. "Hey, Sakura."

"Where are you headed?"

"Nowhere in particular. I'm just taking a walk."

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"Go right ahead." We did not get along at all when we first met, but we had learned to appreciate each other through the years. Although I naturally got along better with guys, there were benefits to having a female friend.

Sakura fell in step beisde me as I continued along the path. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm managing." I hesitated. "I had another dream."

"About Deidara?"

"Yeah."

Sakur alooked at me in concern. "Was it a bad dream?"

"No, it was really good. So good that I wanted to continue sleeping."

Sakura lowered her head, frowning. "I know what kind of dream you're talking about. I used to have them all the time."

I did not have to ask to know who she had dreamed about. I would have thought it annoying at one point, but now I found mutual understanding. "How did you make them go away?"

"I - I don't know. Time, I guess? Time and focusing on my friends and my job. Eventually, they faded away." She looked at me. "Just be patient."

"What if... what if I don't want them to go away?" If this was the only way I could see Deidara, I did not want to lose it.

Sakura tilted her head to the side. "Well, I think that's fine as long as you don't use dreams as a way to escape reality. Don't ingnore the people who are actually here."

I shook my head. "Of course I won't do that. I know better than to let my feelings control me. Besides, if I don't work hard, I'll never be able to save Deidara or anyone else."

Sakura smiled. "That's the spirit."

"I know it's going to be tough though. Dreams are easier to be faced with reality. At least there no one doubts my loyalties."

"Hey, no one is doubting that you're loyal to the Leaf Village."

"They probably will when I start challenging their views on their so-called enemies."

"Lady Tsunade will not think that, and neither will I. Or Naruto or Kakashi, for that matter." Sakura gave me a smile. "We understand where you're coming from, and we will not judge you for trying to help people you care about. No matter what, we're a team, and we're in this together."

I smiled slightly in return. "Thanks, Sakura." I did feel a little better hearing that from her. I had the best friends.

A little after that, Sakura had to run an errand, so we parted. I decided I might as well head home for lunch when I noticed Temari leaning against a building, appearing deep in thought. She looked up when I approached her. "Oh, hello, Katsumi," she said.

"Hey, Temari," I said. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Everything is set for the Chunin Exams. I'll be taking off soon."

I smiled. "That's good. Have a safe trip, and make sure to give Gaara my regards."

Temari nodded. "Of course. He will be happy to learn you are safe and the Akatsuki did not hurt you."

"Tell him he doesn't have to worry about me. Everything worked out for the best." I paused. "Actually, he should be worried about himself. I don't know when, but he'll be a target of the Akatsuki eventually."

A grim expression crossed Temari's face. "I know. I'll warn him."

I frowned. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine. It's just... something feels off. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I hear you." Now that she mentioned it, there was a bit of foreboding in the air. Or maybe it was just my imagination.

Temari shook her head. "You know what? It's probably nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Okay..." I did not want to dwell on it too long anyway. I already had a lot going on in my mind. "It was nice seeing you, Temari. Let Gaara and Kankuro know I'll visit them soon."

Temari smiling, finally appearing more relaxed. "They'll like that. See you later, Katsumi." And, with that, I headed home for lunch.

After lunch, Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and I met with Tsunade in her office. Naruto was giddy with excitement. "You're going to send us on a mission, aren't you?" he said.

"Not so fast," said Tsunade. "We have something important to discuss first."

"What kind of something?" I asked, shifting nervously. I hoped this had nothing to do with me.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about." Tsunade looked form me, to Naruto, to Sakura. "You three have made progress in your training the past three years, haven't you?"

"Of course we have!" said Naruto.

"Then I will have you show me your results."

"Show you?" said Sakura.

"Yes. I am going to test you by having you fight Kakashi."

Naruto looked at Kakashi in surprise. "Really?"

Kakashi nodded. "We may start immediately if you are up for it."

"We're ready, aren't we?"

"Definitely," said Sakura.

"Let's do it," I said.

Tsunade smiled. "I look forward to seeing your progress."

"I will meet you at the training grounds," Kakashi said. "Take your time getting there and come up with a strategy."

"Good idea," Sakura said. Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the remaining three of us walked out on foot. Naruto was too excited too think too hard about a strategy, so Sakura and I did most of the talking.

Kakashi waited for us at the training grounds. "Hey, sensei!" Naruto said. "We're ready for our test."

"Good," said Kakashi. "Then we will begin." He lifted up three bells, clanging them together. "Do you remember these?"

"Those are the bells we tried to take from you when we first became a team," I said.

Kakashi nodded. "That's right. You can going to perform the same test. Try to take the bells from me."

"This brings back memories," Sakura said.

"Will you be reading the whole time like last time?" Naruto asked.

"He's probably already finished the new book you gave him."

"No, I have not finished reading it," said Kakashi, "but I cannot afford to read during this exercise. Both Naruto and Sakura have been trained by Sannin and Katsumi by me." He slowly raised his forehead protector. "I will need my Sharingan to take on the three of you at once."

Naruto grinned. "Then let's do this!"

And so, the training exercise began. It went much differently than the first time we took the test, of course. We were all much stronger. Plus, we now knew how to work together as a team. It was easy to get back into rhythm with Naruto and Sakura. It was like we had never been apart. There were times we had to fight Kakashi individually, but we did well here too.

I had my years of training with Kakashi to fall back on. Although he had never used his Sharingan when training with me, he had not been my only teacher. Itachi had not held back during our training sessions. I knew what to look out for and how to avoid the worst of the Sharingan's effects. Still, the bells were elusive.

Unable to make any inroads, the three of us retreated to come up with a strategy. "Sorry, I'm all out of ideas," I said, shaking my head. "We have worn him down, though. It should not take much more."

"Even tired, he's still stronger than us," Sakura remarked.

"Yeah," said Naruto. "His intelligence exceeds Shikamuru's, his sense of smell greater than Kiba's, his taijutsu surpasses Rock Lee's, and his Sharingan more powerful than Sauske's."

"Still, a great ninja like him must have some sort of weakness." Sakura turned to me. "Katsumi, you know him best. What do you think?"

I hesitated. A weakness? That was a tough one. Then something occurred to me. "Actually, I do have one more idea."

"Let's hear it," said Naruto.

"Alright." I quickly explained my plan, and my friends were on board. We managed to track down Kakashi and launch our attack. Then, in the middle of it, Sakura and I flanked Naruto so he could stop and shout out:

"Hey, Kakashi sensei! Jiraiya's new book is great! Let me tell you what happens!"

"No!" Kakashi exclaimed. "Naruto, do not spoil it!" He covered his ears, but Naruto prattled on.

"The hero finds out the man he thought was his friend was really-"

Kakashi shut his eyes, like I guess. With his Sharingan, he could still read Naruto's lips. Naruto, Sakura, and I took this opportunity to get close to Kakashi and each swipe a bell. We grinned triumphantly at Kakashi when he opened his eyes, shock on his face.

"We win," I said, swinging my bell.