:D Wow!  Lookit the loverly reviewers!!!  Thank you everyone who read!

A special thank you to: kashisenshey, Ame Suisei, wrathofgod, VentMonster, ArrowOfHikaru, Yum, DrakeDragon, SmacksKiller, MaryChanel

Mistress DragonFlame: I wasn't really planning on any pairing.  They are only five years old right now.

Dragon Man 180: as of now Hinata and Naruto don't know each other and Iruka remembers Kyuubi so whenever she appears he would be afraid. 

Translations:

Hajimemashite: Pleased to meet you.

Arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you very much.

Dou itashimashite: You're welcome.

Sugoi!: Cool!

Gaara is pretty OOC in this chapter.  I'm just trying to depict what I think Gaara was like as a five year old, before he got messed up in the head…so he's not really OOC just…young.

On to the story!

What Dreams May Come

"Hajimemashite, Gaara-san" Naruto chirps, a huge grin plastered on his face.  He plops down on the roof right beside the stunned boy.  "Is this your home town or something?  Do you live in the desert?  I thought deserts were supposed to be hot?  Why's it so cold?"

"…uh, I live in the desert.  It gets really cold at night," Gaara says softly.  He looks out over the endless rooftops.  "But my town doesn't look like this.  Why is everything the same?"

Naruto laughs.  "Why are you asking me?  It's your dream."

"I'm dreaming?" Gaara is amazed.

"Yup!  Wanna play?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want to play?" Naruto says each word carefully.

"You…want to play…with me?"

"Didn't I just say that?  Come on, I bet you can't catch me!" Naruto hops across the road to another roof, then turns around to stick out his tongue at Gaara.  Gaara doesn't move for a few seconds.  Slowly a tiny smile creeps over his face.  He stands up on the ledge but hesitates.

Seeing Gaara start to move Naruto hops a few more houses away.

"Wait!" Gaara calls out.  Naruto turns back around, puzzled.  He rejoins Gaara on the circular building.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asks.

"How are you doing that?" Gaara wonders.

"What?  What did I do?"

"How did you jump so far?" Gaara clarifies.

Naruto blinks for a minute then giggles.  "It's just a dream, you can do whatever you want to.  Here, I'll show you."  Naruto takes Gaara's hand and jumps.  They easily cross the street and keep going.  Gaara gets the idea and soon both are racing across endless sand dunes under a starry sky.

They run and chase each other over the sand or through rocky canyons for hours on end.  All night they run and jump and tumble and do what five years olds do best.  Though they both wished it would never end, alas, it was not to be.  Morning came and they had to part. 

While moving through the desert they came upon a standing door, its opening covered by a tattered cloth.  "I guess it's morning."  Naruto grumbles.

"Why is there a door here?" Gaara questions.

Naruto recognizes the door from his entry.  "That door wakes you up.  I had fun tonight.  Lets play again tomorrow!"

Gaara gives a sad little smile.  "Okay.  Arigatou gozaimasu, Naruto." 

"Dou itashimashite," Naruto says, beaming.

Gaara trudges out the door.  Naruto passes briefly through the starry expanse between dreams before exiting through his own iron gate.

Shukaku and Kyuubi are left behind.  Neither says anything.  Kyuubi thinks on the night just passed.  The boy Gaara is very different from her Naruto; even so both boys had the same longing for a friend.  If both she and Shukaku are sealed in the same fashion, they can both find freedom.  Kyuubi remembers the doorway in Gaara's dream.  There were no bars on the door; the tattered cloth is certainly no barrier.  It looks as if freeing Shukaku will require a different approach, she thinks.  She continues to work at this new puzzle without mentioning anything to Shukaku.

---------------

The following night, Kyuubi brought Naruto to Shukaku, hopefully to see Gaara again.  But that night Gaara didn't dream.

"Why isn't he coming?" Naruto asks Kyuubi.

"Perhaps you can ask him that tomorrow, little one.  In any case, lets look at other dreams here."

The pair moves away from Shukaku, he ignores them both.  They close in on a group of dreams and isolate one.  It's pale blue almost white in colour, flashing in a rapid staccato beat.  Naruto looks over at Kyuubi, asking permission with his eyes.  When she nods, he reaches out to brush the flashing dream.  Nothing happens, so he gives it a poke.  Still nothing.  He seizes the dream in one hand and turns it about, examining it from every angle.  It feels cold in his hand, fitting neatly into his palm.  The spot of light shines brightly.

"Can I go in this dream?" he asks.

"Try it," Kyuubi encourages.

He looks at the dream blankly.  He turns it over again, trying to learn something new.  Taking it in both hands he pulls in opposite directions.  Nothing happens.

"I can't do it," he complains.

"Then it is most likely you do not know this person.  It is next to impossible to enter the dream of someone you have not met."

"Oh."

"Try finding someone you have met," Kyuubi suggests.

"Hoh?  How do I do that?"

"Look for them.  Find them"

Naruto inspects the dreams closest to him, wondering what to look for.  All the dreams in the area sparkle uncaringly.  Some are bright; some are dark.  Some have a steady pulse, some flicker randomly.  His attention focuses on one in particular.  This dream is a brownish colour, with a steady heartbeat.  Naruto wonders why this one should catch his eye.  He seizes it anyway. 

"Hey, it's soft!" he cries.  He sticks a finger right into it; the rest of him soon follows.  Kyuubi quickly noses her way in after him.  Shukaku snorts with derision.

-----

Naruto finds himself on a street.  It's a street he recognizes easily in Konoha.  It's the very street where his favourite ramen shop is located.  In fact, he just happens to be standing in front of it. 

Kyuubi appears to his side a moment later, entering through the wooden doorway standing in the street.  She watches, amused as he runs up to the restaurant counter, sits on a stool and stars screaming 'Ramen! Ramen!' at the top of his lungs.  A man soon appears behind the counter bringing the aforementioned ramen.  The man smiles at Naruto as he talks.  Naruto can't answer through the noodles but the man doesn't mind. 

When the man looks up from the half-sided conversation, his eyes land on Kyuubi.  The dream around them wavers and starts to fall apart.  Kyuubi looks away, expecting to find them both back in-between dreams.  Instead the dream remains, although it is still unstable.  The man goes back to talking to Naruto. 

Kyuubi is amazed.  This had never happened before.  Kyuubi scrutinizes the man carefully.  She can feel that he is afraid yet it doesn't show on his face.  Interesting, she thinks.

"Yay!  Your ramen is the bestest ever!  Arigatou!" Naruto cries.

"Ha, ha!  Come back any time Naruto-kun," the man says.

"Let's go play!" Naruto shouts as he jumps off the stool. 

The man watches him go.  Subsequently, his eyes slide over to Kyuubi, still very much afraid.  She stares right back at him.  Slowly, she tilts her head towards him and says clearly, "Arigatou."  The dream vanishes. 

-----

Kyuubi and Naruto are back in the between space. 

"Sugoi!  I love ramen!" Naruto says.  "Lets find another!" Naruto runs about, poking various dreams along the way.

"Stay close, little one.  We don't want to loose track of Shukaku and Gaara," Kyuubi says to him.

"Oh!  Okay!" Naruto dashes back to Shukaku.  "Is he dreaming now?" he asks.

"No," Shukaku grunts.

Naruto goes back to looking for familiar dreamers.  Instead he finds the iron gateway.  He's saddened as he waves goodbye.

-----

Another night arrives and so does Naruto.  On this night Naruto skips his own dream entirely and arrives in the realm of dreams.  Both demons are surprised by his sudden entry.  He throws his hands up to cheer.

"Kyuubi-sama!"

Kyuubi takes a moment to compose her self.  "Why did you come directly here?  You miss your own dream."

"I've seen my dreams.  I wanna see someone else's dreams."

"Nosy brat," Shukaku mutters.

"Eh?" Naruto gives him a confused look.  He would have questioned Shukaku about that comment but Gaara's dream showed up just then.  Naruto cheers.

Gaara's dream is a deep purple-indigo emitting a steady light.  Naruto grabs for it but it flits out of his grasp.

"Be gentle, little one," Kyuubi reminds him.  He tries again, taking it softly in one hand.  Naruto tries to work his way in gently only to find the way blocked. 

"I can't get in.  How come I can't get in?"

"Shukaku can bring us in again," Kyuubi says.  Shukaku moves closer and the dreams light slowly envelops them.

"Hey, Kyuubi?  How come I can't get in but Shukaku can?"

Kyuubi looks down at him.  "It's because his spirit is connected to Gaara's like mine is connected to yours."

"Oh," Naruto ponders this information as a dusty canyon materializes before the group.  "Is that why you could get in my dream before I ever knew you?"

"Yes, that's right," she replies.  The canyon has vertical walls several stories high.  Twenty meters forward, the canyon turns abruptly left.

"Okay."  Naruto skips around the corner and out of sight.

Shukaku turns to give Kyuubi a look.  She looks right back daring him to speak.  And he does dare.

"He doesn't know," he chuckles.

"No, he doesn't.  I'll tell him when the time is right," she tells him.

"Better do it before someone else does," he mocks.  She growls at his back as he saunters through the doorway out.

-----

Naruto rounds the corner.  There he finds a courtyard.  Gaara is sitting on a swing on one side of the yard, holding a raggedy teddy bear.

"Gaara!" Naruto shouts happily.

Gaara turns to him, surprised but happy.  "Naruto.  You came back."

Naruto grins, he quickly joins Gaara on the swings.  "Course I did," he starts to swing.  "How come you weren't sleeping last night?"

Gaara bows his head, clutching his teddy bear tighter.  "I was too scared to."

"How come?"

"There's a monster when I sleep," whispers Gaara.  Naruto's swinging stops.

"Monster?"  Naruto looks around quickly.  He sees the sandy ground, the vertical canyon walls, and the piercing blue sky above.  "I don't see any monster," he tells Gaara.

"I know.  But he's here somewhere, close by," Gaara says fearfully.

"Ne, don't worry Gaara.  Kyuubi-sama will protest us," Naruto says cheerfully.  He starts swinging again.

Gaara turns to Naruto in doubt, "Who is Kyuubi?"

"Oh!  Kyuubi-sama is the bestest ever!  She a great fox and she's all big and flame-y and powerful and stuff!  She's so cool and we play stuff all the time and, and, she's my best friend and stuff!  She knows everything and do you want to meet her?  She'll be your friend too, I know it!"

"Big and flame-y?" Gaara mutters.

"Yeah, and she has the nicest fur.  It's so soft and warm.  Do you want to meet her?"

Gaara hesitates, "Um…okay,"

Naruto grins.  Gaara drops his teddy bear as he is yanked off the swings and towed across the yard.  When the pair rounds the corner, Gaara 'eep's and hides behind Naruto's back.

"Hi Kyuubi-sama!  Gaara, this is Kyuubi.  Cool, huh?"

Gaara nervously peeks over Naruto's shoulder.  The giant demon fox is lying on the canyon floor, her feet tucked under her.  She takes up most of the passageway.  Kyuubi tries to make herself look welcoming.

"Hajimemashite, Gaara-kun.  Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," she says soothingly.

Gaara ducks behind Naruto.  "Scary," he murmurs.

"Ne, don't be a chicken, Gaara.  Kyuubi is my friend."

Gaara peeks over Naruto's shoulder again but he is unable to say a word.

"You two go and play.  I don't want to be frightening your new friend, little one," Kyuubi says.

Naruto shrugs.  He takes Gaara back around the corner with little encouragement. 

The pair plays until morning.  As they find themselves at the waking door, Kyuubi is sitting comfortably to the side.  Gaara tries again to hide behind Naruto.  With a bit of prompting he crosses the sand in front of her and scurries out the door.

-----

And there is the end of another chapter.  If I write another it wont be for a while.  It's my mom's b-day this weekend so I'm going to visit and get her a present.  And that means I'll be away from my beloved computer. 

Please review!  ^_^