This must be... heaven.

*Grunt…*

I slowly opened my eyes; my vision blurs in and out. It was dark…

"Am I dead?" I felt a sharp pain shoot thru my leg.

*GASP!* "SHIT! I'm bleeding!" Blood leaked out of a huge gash on my right thigh. I winced as I began to put pressure on it. At that moment I looked around and looked at my totaled car; everything was shattered and broken. I was in a car accident. I lay back on my seat remembering that an oncoming car got on my lane, and thankfully I veered out of its way but crashed head-on into a tree in a trench. Ahead of me I could see the tree and close to it was a lake. It looked eerie but calm. After a few minutes of thinking, I realized that it would be better if I was out of the car incase a fire broke out.

"Don't wanna be blown to bits now." I pushed the door as hard as I could and fell onto the ground. I felt weak and woozy from loosing blood. I needed to get help but with the way my car was how could I find my cell phone? It was the middle of the night and barely any cars passed thru the freeway, there was no way anyone would stop for me. I got up with whatever strength I had left and went to the odd tree my car rammed itself into. It was small and thin… how could the car not have damaged it?

'Weird…' I felt dizzy and collapsed on the floor. I completely blacked out.

"Oh…." I groaned as I felt the bright sun go through my eye lids. I could barely open my eyes, let alone get up. After a few minutes of waking up, I sat up, opened my eyes completely and my jaw dropped.

'I must be dead.' Remembering what had just happened to me, I looked around and saw an open field in front of me and at a distance I could see a city surrounded by a forest. It all looked so surreal, like a painting or a colored drawing. I looked down at my leg and the gash was gone.

'How!' All my clothes, everything of me was fine. I even felt lighter… 'Did I lose weight! What the…" I looked behind me to see if my car was ok too… but it was gone. Behind me was a forest. It was all so very overwhelming that all I could think, all I could say was…

"Where the fuck am I!"

I set out towards the city, following something that looked like a road, hoping to find someone that could tell me where the heck I was. Everything just looked so surreal, so different. I kept wondering how it was that I got there if I had just collapsed from bleeding so much after my car accident in between a disappeared freeway and a vanished lake. After an hour or two the sun was high in the sky, probably noon-ish I guessed. I didn't have a watch or my cell phone so I was stuck walking my butt all the way to the city.

"Hmph! I'll probably lose a couple pounds once I arrive." I kept walking and more trees seemed to appear. A forest seemed to form in front of me. I didn't like the looks of it but I kept going since the sun was still out. After another hour passed, I noticed that the trees were bigger than I though and actually cover a lot of the sun out. The forest grew darker and larger. It felt like a maze of some sort… I started feeling panicked and began to walk faster. I kept hearing noises of wild animals roaming around and I only hoped that I would get to the city… but unfortunately, I couldn't see it anymore. It seemed like hours and I felt exhausted, so I stopped. I sat down against a huge, oddly shaped tree.

'Weird…' I looked up to see how high it was.

**Splat!** A huge drop of something fell right on my face.

"UGH!" I wiped my face off and hoped it wasn't what I though it was. I then realized it wasn't because it started pouring rain right after I looked at what I wiped off my face. The rain was cold and fell hard. I hugged myself and tried to keep warm. I stayed like that for some time but I just felt like I got colder and weaker. I got up and tried walking it off… nope! Wasn't working, so I just started jogging… then running. I could feel my blood pumping and heating my body up but it was still freezing cold! But then I heard something, a huge animal hissed and growled behind me.

"OH SHIT!" I looked back and saw a huge cat-like creature chasing me… and it was getting closer. I ran like hell after I saw it but I started feeling tired as physical fitness is not my strong point. I started slowing down and in the moment of knowing I was going to be cat food I screamed my lungs out before collapsing on the ground, I rolled on my back and watched in horror as the cat creature jumped at me and…. GUESS WHAT! I passed out.

This must be... a dream.

'I'm dead… I'm dead… I'm freakin' dead for reals this time.'

Again my vision blurred in and out, (nostalgic much?) but my eyes finally adjusted and I was surrounded by complete whiteness. I pushed myself up and realized I was on a bed. People always ask at this moment, 'Am I in heaven?' but I assessed what I saw around me and pretty much figured out I was in the hospital.

*PHEW!* I breathed in and out deeply. 'What an odd dream I had… it was very pretty though… 'til the end at least… stupid cat monster…' I wondered how long I had been out and hoped a nurse would come along and explain to me who found me and took me to the hospital; that ditch could barely be seen from the freeway… maybe someone was kayaking or something on the lake and saw me. I looked around, hoping to find a call button of some sort but nothing… 'This must be some old-fashioned hospital… looks nothing like the hospital in my hometown… did I get taken somewhere else?' No TVs, no beeping electronics, no technology. There was a window to my right and a curtain closed to my left, I assumed maybe another patient was there. I got up and peeked open the curtain and to my expectation it was empty… no one occupied the other bed. I had the whole room to myself, which was nice since it's kinda bothersome to have someone else in what they say is your so-called private hospital room. So, I layed back down on my bed and waited… and waited.

Finally, I heard the door creak open. Someone was coming in. The door opened so slow it made the creaking and squeaking seem like it lasted forever. I sat up hoping to talk to the nurse instead of having her just check my vitals but when the curtain opened up I was so baffled I couldn't understand anything that was in front of me. Was it a huge TV? Was it a robot? Or maybe a life-size cardboard cutout with someone somehow moving it to make it look real? It came closer to me with a smirk turned to cheesy smile… and I could see I was clearly going out my mind. Maybe that was it. I was in an asylum; I went insane after my accident… but then it came to the left of me and opened its mouth. He spoke…

'What did he just say!' I was clearly out of my mind, this just couldn't be happening. My jaw dropped as he looked at me in a surprised funny way.

"Konnichiwa! Ogenki desu ka?" (Hi! How are you!) he repeated himself and smiled politely at me again. I looked down at his feet hoping he was a huge TV screen and had subtitles at the bottom… Nope! I was clearly going nuts. So, I screamed.

"AAAAAaaaaaahhhh!" He took a step back and dropped a flower he had been holding in his hand. His expressions changed from scared to concerned to confused. I closed my eyes tightly, hoping it was just some weird vision and hearing distortion… some REALLY but VERY EXTREMELY WEIRD distortion of some sort. But when I opened my eyes again I saw his confused face right in front of mine.

"Yoi ka?" (Are you ok?) I looked at him perplexed. I couldn't understand how this was happening. 'This must be some CRAZY dream….and if not then this is clearly not home… actually, not even my world! HA! I'm going nuts…' I lifted up my hand up, even though I was extremely tense out of being super confused and stressed, and managed to extend my index finger and curl the rest of them into my palm. As my hand kept reaching to discover if he was real, he looked at my hand and followed it until it lightly touched his cheek with the very tip of my pointing finger.

"Eek!" I squeaked and backed away from his face. 'He's real alright… at least in this dream he is.' He backed away and gave me a more confused look. He scratched his head,

"Chotto fukakai ni koudou shiteiru. Kono hen karadearunaika?" (You're acting kinda weird. You're not from around here are you?) I looked at him confused but the realized… 'He's speaking Japanese… Damn it! Why didn't I pay attention in Jap. 101! Stupid me…' I looked down and hoped I could remember something so I could at least communicate with him in a way…

"N-n-nani?" (W-w-what?) is all I could stutter out. He looked at me funny and repeated himself.

"Kono hen karadearunaika? Chottookashii hanasu." (You're not from around here are you? You speak kinda funny.) He looked at me as if I was some puzzle he was trying to decipher.

"I don't speak Japanese." I hoped he would maybe understand that, even if it was English. He looked at me like if the puzzle was too hard for him to figure out.

"Naniwo itsutta ka?" (What did you say?) He was clearly baffled by the words and language that came out of my mouth. I started remembering the few words I knew so that he could maybe understand.

"Nihon-go hanashimasen." 'I don't speak Japanese… I hope I said that right… I wonder if he even knows that he speaks Japanese…'

"E? Watashi ha sorewo ena i." (Huh? I don't get it.) He kept staring at me like if something was wrong with me.

"Naruto... kanojo nodake nokosu. Kanojo hakokokarahakkirinaishi, watashitachi no iu kotogawakaranaiyoudehanai." (Naruto… leave her alone. She's clearly not from here and doesn't seem to understand us.) A voice came from behind the curtain. A tall, white haired guy, and handsome I might add, stood behind him. I was surprised that I didn't hear or see him come in but in all the confusion I was just in awe. This just felt so real… at least in my dream it felt real… but if it was all real then how could I be dreaming? I couldn't understand how anything was happening. Kakashi came closer to me.

"Onamae wa nan desuka?" (What's your name?) He questioned me kindly but with some authority. At least I understood that question… ah Jap. 101 memories.

"Linda." I replied showing that I still might understand simple questions.

"Rinda ... sore ha kokoni kyoutsuu no namae dehanai." (Rinda… that's not a common name here.) He looked at Naruto who was still looking at me funny. I looked up at Kakashi, scared, thinking maybe they we're going to do something to me since I was a stranger. Kakashi just maintained his examining gaze.

"Shitagatte watashitachi ga hokage nianatatosurebaiinoka tsure te iki, naniwo haaku surukotowo watashi watashitachi no iu kotogawakaranaiyoudehanainode, katei shinasai." (So, since you don't seem to understand us I suppose we'll take you to the Hokage and figure out what to do with you.) Kakashi looked at me with a slight smile. I only guessed at what he might have said to me… all I understood was Hokage.

'Hmmm… I guess they're gonna talk to the Hokage or somethin'…' I just looked down at my bed and hugged my covered up legs. Kakashi walked out just like he came in. Naruto then sat down on my bed and smiled at me.

"Watashi no namae ha naruto dearu. Ae teureshii !" (My name's Naruto. Nice to meet ya'!) He grinned at me. I smiled back, weakly then went back to looking down.

"Watashitachi ha atta sono neko monsutaa niyotte kougeki sare, tedasuke sareta ..." (We saw you being attacked by that cat monster and helped you out…) He realized I wasn't paying attention to him. He touched my arm and I looked up at him as he smiled kindly.

"Watashi ha choudo watashi wo shitte ireba kyoka shinasaiosoraku watashi no iu kotogawakaranai nande mo hitsuyou tosurebakotowo kakunin dekiru ." (I know you probably don't understand me but if you need anything, just let me know.) He then got up and saw the little flower he had in his hand earlier on the floor and picked it up.

"Kokoni. Sore ha anatano tamedearu." (Here. It's for you.) Naruto put the flower in front of me. It was a little tattered but it's the thought that counts right? I smiled lightly and took it from his hand.

"A-ari... gatou go… zaimasu." I thanked him the best I could. He smiled at me and turned around and walked to the door. He stopped at the door and looked back at me.

"Yoi." (You'll be ok.) He murmured as he closed the door. I didn't really know what he said but I imagined it was something nice… at least I hoped it was something nice.

So I sat there, holding and examining the pretty flower. It felt real. It looked weird but it was still pretty. I sniffed it and it smelled very nice. I put the flower in a little vase that sat empty on a table next to my bed. I figured that the only way to get out of this weird dream was to figure out a way to wake myself up. So, I pinched myself, right in my left under arm. Nothing… but it hurt. I slapped myself… hurt even more but still I found myself in the hospital bed.

"Well, nothin' else to do then just ride this dream out I guess." I convinced myself. It was quiet... and for once in my life... I didn't want to be alone. I lay back down and faced the window. I could see all of Konoha's bright building colors as the sun shined as it hung on the bright blue sky.

"Maybe be if I fall asleep… I'll wake up." I yawned, closed my eyes and dosed off.

A glimmer of light shined through the opening slits of my eyes. I groaned a bit and turned around to my side but unfortunately that little ray of light triggered my eyes to open more and so, I awoke. I looked in front of me, as I lay still on the bed, and there was the white curtain... I was still in the hospital. I rubbed my eyes, faced the ceiling and pushed myself up.

'Why the hell don't I wake up!?' I couldn't help but wonder. I shook my head in disappointment but then an idea came to my head... 'Maybe I just need to go along with it... let my dream play out without disruption... or make it go the way I want it to.' I grinned in excitement. I've never been able to control my dreams before and so, it seems I can finally do that... I guessed. So, I plopped my feet on the cold floor, shivered for a bit but stretched my arms out. As I took a step to stretch my legs, the sheet I was covered with on the bed just happened to have wrapped itself on my leg and down to the floor I went. 
"Ugh..." I groaned a bit but got up with a hurt pride more than a hurt body. As I dusted myself off...

"Hmm... I wonder where my clothes are?" I noted that I wore a simple hospital gown, tinted a light blue, which looked more like a long shirt than anything. I scratched my head as I looked around the room in search of my clothes but found nothing. I checked myself for undergarments...

'Yep, still got my undies on. Phew! Whoever changed me was nice enough to not degrade their eyes with my monstrosity of a body... Well, in this dream I seem to have a better body than in real life so, whatever.' I giggled to myself as I walked to the door, but as I was about to pull the handle the door automatically opened and... *BAM!!* I was on the floor again... 'Why the hell do I keep ending up on the floor!?!?' I looked up to see a confused Naruto - he seemed to be looking for something... someone... obviously me. 'Did he not feel that he knocked me down!? Well... that's typical oblivious Naruto for ya.' I thought. He finally saw me on the ground and looked at me funny.

"Anata wa soko ni nani o shite iru no ka?" (What are you doing down there?) He seemed to have asked me something but of course I glared at him for forgetting I couldn't understand him. He backed away a little scared... at least he understood my expressions!

'Dumbass...' He set aside some stuff he had been holding and helped me up. I looked up at him realizing how short I was... 'and he's how old? Sixteen in Shippuden? DAMN!' Though he did look a few years older than that at the moment (I'm 5"2' by the way). He quickly grabbed the stuff he had set aside and handed it to me. 'I guess they're for me... I'm also guessing he knows what happened to MY clothes. Too bad I can't ask him.'

"Arigatou... Gozaimasu." I smiled kindly and he smiled back... and stood there... for a minute or so.
*AHEM!* I grunted and glared at him and back at the clothes. He looked at me confused as usual. I had to do it a couple times before he understood. 'GET OUT!! I HAVE TO CHANGE!'

"Sumimasen!" (Sorry!) He giggled nervously. Once he was out and closed the door, I removed the poor excuse for a hospital gown and put on the clothes and shoes Naruto had given me. It was a long, light yellow shirt... 'Ha! I just went from one long shirt to another!', some long biker kind of shorts that went down to right above the knees, some black shoes that all the ninjas seem to wear - mine had two and a half inch heels and a large, sagging opening for some odd reason - and last but not least! A blue hoodie with elbow length sleeves. I didn't look too bad but I didn't exactly look good either. So, I shrugged and went to see if he was still waiting outside. I stopped in front of the door but hesitated to open it at the thought of having my face or butt meet the floor again. So, I shook the handle and stepped back for a few seconds. I sighed at my own stupidity and opened the door... *BAM!* I tripped on myself.

"Stupid ninja shoes..." I lightly muttered to myself.

"Anata wa bukiyōdesu."(You're clumsy.) he muttered as he giggled. I glared at him again and wished that I could understand and respond something back but the lack of me knowing Japanese didn't help. Oh well.

"Yoshi! Ikimashou! Watashi wa hokage no basho ni tsureteiku tame ni koko ni imasu yo."(Alright! Let's go! I'm here to take you to the Hokage's place.) He began to walk down the hall... how quickly this idiot forgot that I couldn't understand him. He stopped for a second and laughed nervously. He looked back with a nervous smile... he knew I was glaring at him. He then waved for me to follow him... I rolled my eyes as I followed him down the hall and into the main reception. He began to talk to the nurses and I'm guessing checked me out of the hospital since they gave him a sheet to sign. 'Great... he's my parental guardian now... What the hell!? Do I not look older than him!?" I looked at one of the nurses and she gave me a strange and cautious look and then looked away. I sighed and Naruto patted my shoulder.

"Īkagen'ni shite." (Come on.) He gestured me to follow and I did. We stepped out of the hospital and into the bright and bustling city. The dirty road was busy but not overflowing with people. I pulled my hood up over my head in discomfort. I knew that if the villagers saw me, a stranger, I would get disapproving looks. I know I don't belong, I don't need their faces to tell me. 'Funny... I thought in my dreams I wouldn't feel self-conscious like I do when I'm awake.'

I tried to stay focused on the black and orange colored garments Naruto wore. They were different than what I could remember... 'Maybe this is Naruto from The Last Movie... oh crap... I never watched it... I don't know what's going to happen!' I stopped to face-palmed myself and grunted in frustration. Naruto looked back at me, concerned at my odd reaction.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." I shouted to him, as he had been leaving me behind with his fast paced walking. I then realized I had spoken and noted how the villagers whispered, murmured and gave me funny looks. I tightened my hood around my face, trying to hide my embarrassment.(Did I mention that I hate attention?) Naruto came over me and waved at other people nervously while he pulled me forward to walk. He said something but it was muffled through my hoodie and anyway, it's not like I could understand, for the "hundredth" time.

After minutes of walking around the unfamiliar dirt roads, we stopped at a ginormous structure. I stood there in awe and admired it. 'This is it... My death sentence.' I scoffed. Naruto 's face obstructed my view,

"Kore wa hokage no tatemonodesu. Watashitachi wa ima tsumori nakanihairu to, anata kara shite iru basho o mitsukeru shite imasu." (This is the Hokage's building. We're gonna go inside now and find out where you're from.) He pulled my arm to go up the steps but I was still mesmerized by the sheer immensity of the damn building, I tripped on the first steps and was dragged up the rest.

"Oww..." My eyes were teary from the pain.

"Hei! Jikan o muda ni sutoppu! Watashitachi wa anata no tasuke o erunakya." (Hey! Stop wasting time! We gotta get you help!) Naruto seemed frustrated with me while he stood me up but it bugged me more that he continued to speak to me in his language.

"You hurt me you jerk! Why don't you speak English!?" I retorted to whatever he said. 'If this was a dream, we'd understand each other!' I pouted and crossed my arms. Naruto scratched the back of his head and looked slightly upset at the way I was responding. Finally, it's like he understood! He looked at me, pointed at me and then himself and then pointed towards the doors. He nodded at me and waited. I sighed and nodded reluctantly.

The building, from the outside, looked huge and spacious. From the inside, not so much. It was more of a maze, with stairs and meeting rooms and hallways galore. I was so tired and rather dizzy by the time we arrived outside of large, metal, closed doors. Naruto knocked,

"Oi! Sore wa, naruto watashidesu. Watashi wa Reira, bugai-sha o motarashimashita." (Hey! It's me, Naruto. I brought Leila, the outsider.) he shouted through the doors; you could hear a light resound going through the doors. An unlatching of the doors sounded back to us. The doors opened wide, exposing to Konoha ninjas making their way to us. They came at my sides and each grabbed one arm and began pulling me into the room.

"Hey! What're you doing!?" I freaked out and tried to pull myself out of their grasps. They pulled me harder and jerked me to sit on a wooden chair.

"Let me go! Please! I haven't done anything! Please don't hurt me!" I was frantic as they started to tie me down to the chair.

"Anata wa nani o shite iru nodesu ka!? Anata wa kanojo o kizutsukete imasu! Anata wa kanojo ga kowaidesu miru koto ga dekimasen!?" (What are you doing!? You're hurting her! Can't you see she's scared!?) Naruto shouted at the ninja guards as he tried to make his way to them but another two ninjas grabbed him, pulled him out of the room and slammed the doors shut. One of the guards, that was tying me down, pulled out a kunai and pointed it inches from my face.

'Oh my god... I'm gonna die. They're gonna kill me. This isn't a dream... THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!!!' I gulped and stared at the kunai in horror. The other guard finished tying my ankles to the chair and then walked around me to make sure I was tied down good. I was petrified as I sat there, in the semi-dark, concrete room.

"Jigoku wa anata o dare ga anata no bijinesu wa koko nandesu ka? Anata ga oshiete made, watashitachi wa anata o gōmon shimasu." (Who the hell are you and what is your business here? We'll torture you until you tell us.) The ninja had a demanding tone and looked eager to have a reason to stab me.

"Nihon-go hanashimasen!!" (I don't speak Japanese!!) My words quivered as I shouted at the top of my lungs and began to cry. The other guard handed some papers to the one trying to intimidate me and they murmured back and forth. Finally, after a few minutes, they look over at me and shook their heads in disappointment. They both stepped aside and in came a familiar face. Tall, blond, hair tied in a long pony-tail, wearing dark clothing with a long black coat. Kind of militant mixed with The Matrix style.

'Is that Ino's dad? Isn't he dead?' He looked down at me with a questioning look. He said something quick to the other ninjas before placing his hand on top of my head. At that moment, I had no control of my thoughts. My memories flooded my head, moving like a flip book. I could hear him comment things to the other ninjas while he looked through with detail but I was immobilized by his jutsu. Tears started flowing from my eyes, as past events that I never wished to remember went through my mind. There was no physical pain but more of a mental and emotional one as Inoichi continued to look through my memories. It seemed like a lifetime passed (MY lifetime), though I know it was only minutes, when he finally let go and I was brought back to consciousness. I gasped for air as I tried to regained control of my body after feeling like I was in a claustrophobic shock. I felt so vulnerable and exposed, my face flushed from the embarrassment, shame and anger Inoichi made me feel. But as I looked up at him, he gave me the strangest look.

"Kanojo wa gaikoku hito no ikutsu ka no narabe-gaedesu. Watashi ga tsūka shita omoide wa konoyo no monode wanai... Shikashi, mada, kanojo wa mae ni watashitachi o mite imasu." (She's some sort of alien. The memories I went through are not of this world... but yet, she has seen us before.) He looked over at the other ninjas; one of them was writing on a clipboard. Inoichi went over to them and commented quietly to them as he kept eyeing me suspiciously at a distance. A pounding at the doors startled everyone in the room. One of the ninjas opened the door and it was slammed open against his will, squishing him against the wall. Naruto came in shouting like a maniac and rubbing a piece of paper in their faces. It was so weird to see him hysterical. He arrogantly slapped the sheet onto one of the ninjas and rushed over to me.

"Īkagen'ni shite. Watashi wa koko no anata o shutoku shite imasu." (Come on. I'm getting you out of here.) He untied every rope and every chain that had been holding me down. I was still pretty shaken up and stumbled as he helped me stand on my feet. I was only able to take a few steps before I fell to my knees. 'Is this what post-traumatic syndrome is like?...' My body shook uncontrollably; I tried my best to hug myself but it was all involuntary. Naruto managed to stand me up, grabbed my back with one arm and swung my legs onto his other arm. I curled up onto him as I continued to shake and cried silently, clenching his jacket and burrowing my face onto it.

"Watashi wa gomen'nasai... Kore ga futatabi okoru koto wa arimasen." (I'm so sorry... This won't happen again.) his soft words felt reassuring, though he could've been saying he was going to kill me. But off I went, in spiky haired guy's arms. I didn't know where he was taking me but at least the interrogation deal was over for now. I could feel that he was taking me over the buildings and running a top the roof tops. I peeked out and saw that the sun was setting beautifully at a distance. The sky was a mix of its usual bright blue with the orange and pink shades that the sun created as it sunk downward into the unknown. I've always loved watching the sunset.

We finally arrived near a small building with light colored walls and a big flapping banner, cut up in between every red Japanese character. It cover the top half of the open part of the building. A rather large lantern with another red Japanese character painted on it hung at one of the corners of the building. It looked familiar but yet it looked so different. Naruto stepped in carefully, still managing to carry me with no problem, though I was pretty much ok to walk now. 'How do I tell him to put me down?'

He greeted the owner and the young woman working. They smiled back at him and started preparing food. 'This is that ramen place he always goes to!' It finally dawned on me where we were. He stepped in front of one of the stools and sat me down on it. He sat in the stool beside me, not before giving them the peace sign and saying something. He looked over to me, giving me a concerned expression but I looked away still uneasy from the horrible experience. I still felt like everyone could see through me, see me naked in a sense. He reached over and tapped me on the shoulder. I looked over and saw him pretending to eat, since obviously there was no food in front of him, and rubbing his stomach in satisfaction. He nodded trying to confirm my understanding and, of course, I nodded back.

Two huge bowls were immediately placed before us. The hot ramen looked so delicious I was ready to eat it. I hadn't eaten since... well, since I arrived. (That's a damn long time!) I looked over at Naruto and he loudly declared,

"Itadakimasu!" (Let's eat!) and began slurping up mouthfuls of ramen.

"Itadakimasu." I repeated quietly; I was able to recall it was manners to say that before eating. I picked up the chopsticks next to the bowl and tried my best to hold them in my hand. I'm used to forks but I occasionally ate sushi with chopsticks so, at least I could hold them to some degree. Though, getting any noodles to stay on the sticks was a pain in the ass. Naruto watched me struggle and stopped to help me. He tried to teach me, though he knew words could not be communicated, by first showing me and then placing his hand on mine to give me a better sense of grip while leaning closely on me. I felt a rush of blood to my face and pushed him off. I gave him a nervous smile and a thumb's up and tried my best to eat the ramen. It took me a long while but I got the hang of it for a few minutes before my hand started to cramp up. After that, I just slurped down the whole thing without them. The owner and his daughter watched me oddly.

We waved goodbye and thanked them as we stepped out of the ramen shop, after Naruto paid of course. It was dark, with the moon shinnying brightly above us, as we walked for a few minutes around the streets. We made our way up some stairs of a building and arrived at a door. Naruto opened it up, gestured me to enter and take off my shoes. I looked around cautiously as I stepped inside. It was messy but quaint. He extended his arms and pointed to himself. 'Yeah, yeah... I know. It's your home.' I nodded unimpressed. He gestured to following him again to the other room. He fixed up his bed before offering it to me and gesturing that he would sleep on the floor. I took off my sweater and placed it at the foot of the full-sized bed. I yawned and laid carefully on his bed; I watched as he placed a mat and blanket on the floor. He went into, what I think, was his bathroom and changed into his pajamas. I giggled at how funny he looked, though it was cute. I felt myself drifting to sleep, but not before noticing that he tucked me in. He then laid down on the mat he placed next to me and cover himself with the blanket. He stared at me happily as he blurred out of my vision and I fell asleep. I guess... he wanted to make sure I fell asleep.

This Must be… Japanese 101

Random metal clanking forced its way through my ear canals and pounded against my eardrums. I turned to my side and pulled a corner of the pillow my head rested on to cover my exposed ear. But then, a strange smell emitted into the room. ‘Food...?’ My eyes opened slowly and I could see that the sun was lighting up the room rather brightly. I let go of the pillow and rubbed the crust off of my eyes. I sat up on the bed and looked around - the room was unfamiliar, but then I remembered what happened last. ‘Ugh… still here… why?...’ My eyes scanned the room - there was no sign of life, but then a loud yelp caught my attention and brought me to my feet. The smells continued to get stronger (and not in a good way) from the direction of some mumbling I heard and so I made my way slowly to the opening of the room, peeking into the next.

“Itai!” (Ouch!) Naruto was in front of his stove looking pained at his reddened hand then back at the pan on the stove, giving it an annoyed look. His pajamas were slightly singed at the sleeves. I couldn’t help but giggle at his misfortune which, to my unfortunate amusement, caught his attention.


“Ä€! OhayÅ�! Watashi wa chÅ�shoku o tsukuru shiyÅ� to shite itaga, watashi wa ryÅ�ri ga hontÅ�ni yoide wanaidesu.” (Oh! Good morning! I was trying to make breakfast, but I’m not really good at cooking.) He rubbed the back of his head and giggled nervously. The food in the pan had burnt and was starting to disintegrate into dark dust. A swirl of smoke stank up the kitchen/dining room as it rose to the ceiling. I made my way towards the stove and looked at it disappointedly. I took the pan to the sink to wash after I had thrown the burnt food into a nearby trash can.

“I,” my index finger pressed firmly onto my chest a few times, “cook,” then made a stirring motion with my hand over the pan. “Reira cook.” I made the same gestures, hoping he understood, and waited - plus I added the funky accent everyone seemed to have put on my name. He looked at me funny but then nodded his head in agreement.

“Kokku?” Naruto copied my stirring motion as well as the word. It sounded so funny, but I held in my giggle and instead smiled as I nodded.

“Cook,” I repeated happily.

“Kokku.” He continued to reply back. As we went back and forth trying to get him to pronounce the word correctly, an idea flooded my mind. I immediately looked around for pieces of scrap paper and a writing tool. For some odd reason, I found some crayons lying around and decided to use them. ‘He truly is a kid at heart.’ I sat down at his small dining table and laid the papers and crayons on top of the table and continued to search for random household items. I excitedly gestured him to sit down as I placed the few items I wanted to use on the table. When I finished, I sat across from him and smiled anxiously at what I was about to try.



First, I grabbed an empty cup, “Cup,” and pointed to it. Naruto nodded and abruptly stood up. My eyes followed him, confused, as he went to his fridge, opened it and took out a carton of milk. He then pointed to the milk.

“No! No…” My head shook as I waved both hands emphatically. ‘How do you say no?’

“Īe!” It finally dawned on me. I gestured him to sit down, but he was busy sniffing the carton. He gave it a disgusted look, threw it in the trash and finally sat back down. I decided to grab the pan again along with a cooking utensil and made the stirring motion again.
 “Cook,” I stopped and gestured to him, hoping he would try.


“Kokku.” He was rather blank about it, but it was exciting for me.


“Hai!” ‘Yes! Close enough! Hopefully, he understands what I want him to do.’ I put the pan down and grabbed the cup again and pointed.

“Cup.” I held the cup closer to him and nodded.


“Kappu?” he gave the item a puzzled look.


“Hai!” (Yes!) I placed the cup down and clapped excitedly. Naruto looked at me curiously but then smiled. I grabbed a little-too-ripe apple and showed it to him.
“Apple.” I nodded to him. His head tilted curiously.

“Appo.” He tried to mimic how my lips moved.

“Hai! Apple!” He then took the apple away from my hand and shoved it very close to my face, which took me aback a little.

“Ringo.” (Apple.) He looked at me very seriously and handed it back to me. I looked down at it and back at Naruto.

“Ringo,” I spoke with the best Japanese accent I could.

“Hai, ringo!” (Yes, apple.) He smiled and nodded, content with my effort. I giggled excitedly at the fact that we were both finally on the same page... though ironically surrounded by many blank pages.



“Appo!” “Ringo!”
We both laughed as we exclaimed the strange words we had learned in unison.Never in my mind did I think that I would be teaching someone english (especially a fictional character at that!). ‘Maybe I should’ve studied to be a teacher for an English 101 class, instead of the arts and design major.’

We continue for a couple hours trying to learn simple words in each other’s languages and writing them down for future reference but at some point, our hunger got the best of us and we had to step out to go find something to eat (considering most of Naruto’s food was old - food poisoning no thank you).

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

We stepped out of his little home and made our way out into the busy Konoha streets and shops. Naruto took the opportunity to continue to teach me words in his language and I would reciprocate with English. We scribbled in small note pads that he bought for both of us while we roamed the village. He guided me to shops with lots of food items and grabbed some stuff to purchase, meanwhile also writing down how the pieces of food were pronounced. With each correct pronunciation, we took bites of the food he bought us. We learned various simple things like directions, random items from stalls to how to say bathroom (‘cause that’s important, you know?).

After a few hours of being out and about, we ran into some familiar faces - Rock Lee, TenTen, Neji ‘Isn’t he… dead? That makes two!’,Sakura and Sai. Never in my mind did I think I’d have the opportunity to meet these awesome people that I would see on my television on a weekly basis. I was so entranced by having them so close, so vivid and so… real. They wore the outfits from
The Last movie, except for Neji because… you know, he died. Naruto seemed to have been introducing me meanwhile in my awe when I finally realized they were looking at me awkwardly.

“Hi!” I blurted out rather loudly with a mix of nervousness and excitement. It was like being starstruck when you see your favorite actor or actress, but they weren’t actors (at least I think they weren’t). They gave each other confused glances and then looked back at Naruto.

“Kanojo wa `hai' to itte imashita ka?” (Did she just say ‘Yes’?) The double-bunned weapons expert seemed to have asked him something. She looked so cool in person, I just wanted to touch her. ‘Contain yourself, woman!’

“Kanojo wa kotoba de aisatsu shimashita. Shinpaishinaide, watashi wa kanojo ni watashitachi no kotoba o oshiete imasu.” (She said hello in her language. Don’t worry, I’m teaching her our language.) The spiky haired blond was rather proud of whatever it was he said.

“Watashi wa yoikoto no yÅ� ni kikoeru koto wa yoku wakarimasen.” (I’m not sure that sounds like a good thing.) Sakura scoffed a bit and then looked at me with a nervous smile. It was strange seeing a soft pink haired girl and not have it be a wig or some form of bleaching. It suited her, though. Naruto glared at her and finally directed himself to me.

"Korera wa watashi no tomodachidesu!" (They are my friends!) He smiled and waited for my response. I thought for a minute trying to figure out if any words sounded familiar.

"Tomodachi..." I muttered quietly to myself and remembered that it meant friend. "Tomodachi! Friend!" I smiled happily and stuck out my hand to greet them but after a few seconds of awkward glances, only Rock Lee shook it.

“Konoha e yÅ�koso!” (Welcome to Konoha!) I assumed he said something nice as he continued to smile and shake my hand. The rest just smiled weakly and gave Rock Lee an uncomfortable expression. He let go once he realized he shook my hand for too long.

"Naruto friend." I pointed to Rock Lee, who was closest to me, and tried to clarify to my parental guardian what I understood. He nodded,

"Ffu-furuendo." He smiled and looked back at his comrades who were staring at him oddly and concerned. We both took our words and wrote them down into our little note pads simultaneously. The lavender eyed guy stepped forward towards Naruto and interrupted his intense scribbling,

“Wareware wa ima iku tsumoridesu,” (We’re gonna go now.) he paused for a moment and sighed as though slightly distraught by something. “Watashitachi wa anata ga yoku imi shimasuga, subete no hito o shinrai suru koto wa dekimasen rikai shi, kakuninshitekudasai. ShÅ�jiki naruto, anata wa bugai-sha no nani o oshierubekide wa arimasen.” (Look, we understand you mean well but you can’t trust everyone. Honestly Naruto, you shouldn’t be teaching an outsider anything.) He forced a quick smile at me and gave Naruto a stern look before gesturing the rest of the group to follow him as he started to walk away.

“Anata wa dareka ni kotoba o oshie shiyou to shite iru anata no jikan o muda ni shite imasu. Anata wa Å�ku no koto ni jukuren shita kamo shirenaiga, anata wa osomatsuna senseidesu.” (You’re wasting your time trying to teach someone a language. You may be skilled in many things, but you’re a lousy teacher.) Sai gave us one of his famous insincere smiles and waved delicately while he started to follow Neji. I waved back oblivious to what was being said.

“Anata wa hidoi hitodesu! Baka!” (You’re the lousy one! Idiot!) Naruto shook his fist at him as his face steamed with anger. A certain word expressed by the annoyed orange dressed dude stuck to my head.

“...baka… BAKA!!” The memory of what that meant sprung into my mind and blurted out of my mouth. I bent over laughing, thinking it was said as a funny joke but after I had finished releasing my uncontrolled laughter, my eyes caught the disapproving and weirded out faces of the characters I was trying to have a connection with. It made me realize my reaction was uncalled for… and very unwelcomed.

My eyes averted their uncomfortable gazes while my cheeks flushed as a wave of nervousness and shame came over me. The feeling made my body hunch over while I took a few seconds to recall an apologetic word. “Su-sumimasen…” (I-I’m sorry...) I muttered lightly. Rock Lee patted my back and looked at me sympathetically as though accepting my apology.

“O ai dekite kÅ�eidesu. Atode naruto o ai shimashou!” (It was nice meeting you. See you later, Naruto!) He bowed quickly as to excuse himself and followed his departing comrades.

“Choto! Matte! Anata-tachi wa sa rete jÄ�ku o teishi shi, chÅ�do kanojo o tasukeru koto wa dekimasu ka?” (Hey! Wait! Can you guys stop being jerks and just befriend her?) Naruto seemed to be very insistent towards the guys that had walked too far to hear him. He looked pretty distraught before Sakura came up next to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder which gave him a slight glimmer of hope.

“Naruto wa, anata ga saisho ni otagai o shiru koto nashi ni tomodachi ni nari, hitobito o kyÅ�sei suru koto wa dekimasen. Watashitachiha oroka, kanojo o rikai shi, kanojo ni tsuite nani mo shirimasen.” (Naruto, you can’t force people to be friends without first getting to know each other. We don’t know anything about her, let alone understand her.) Sakura sighed sadly and let her hand fall beside her as she followed the rest of the rejecting conga line members. After a few seconds, a small gust of wind came between me and blondie.

"Ja ne." (See ya.) Ten ten’s words faded as fast as she jogged to Sakura, waving goodbye half heartedly. Naruto crossed his arms and continued to look annoyed at his long-gone comrades. It stung, to be honest, the way in which nobody wanted to try to communicate with me. I mean, sure I’m only restricted to the small, simple words at the moment but… I’m not a bad person. Rejection was something that I’ve grown too fond of in the real world but, for some weird reason in this delusional world that I’ve somehow come to make a little too realistic I had hoped things would be different. My eyes began to collect the agony my heart was bleeding out and a little bit dripped down my cheeks. ‘And here I was admiring them, thinking how awesome they must be… but it’s clear I’m not welcomed here.’ I ran the back of my hand across my face, wiping away the evidence of hurt.

"Reira… Naruto tomodachi." (Leila… Naruto friend) Naruto’s hand rubbed my upper arm reassuringly. A quick smile replaced the unwanted frown, but the negative emotion continued to waver within me. "Reira... Ettoo... furaido?" (Leila... Uuuhh... Fried?) His question caught me off guard and all I could reply was with a tilt of my head and a puzzled look.
"Fuendo... furudo?... ChikushÅ�!" (*can’t pronounce friend* Damn it!) He facepalmed himself which was a little too hard and left a red hand mark covering part of his face. I couldn't help but giggle,

"Hai." (Yes.) I nodded as I wiped away the remainder of tears from my eyes. The satisfied smiled he showed me and the way he softly patted my back made me feel as though this friendship was very real. I only hoped that it would always remain this way… (always?)

“Soredewa, tabe ni ikou!” (Let’s go eat!) His voice boomed with eagerness while he gestured to show he meant to eat. I closed my eyes for few seconds while letting out a defeated sigh. His hand gripped my arm carefully which startled me a bit since he started pulling me to walk. ‘Guess I gotta follow him again.’

*~*~*~

For the last few hours in the day, we continued our language translation session during our dinner (ramen again...) and afterward around the city streets some more. It was mentally and physically exhausting, but it felt rewarding nonetheless. In my real life, all I did was work as a dingy sales clerk - I don’t get put up as cashier much since I failed at it my first time - but hereI was, at least, doing something different and feeling useful (Am I actually believing this place is real?). Sure it was to just one annoying but funny guy, but it was nice to feel accepted by someone even when they don’t know anything about you. I’ll never understand why he trusts people so easily.

Before it was nightfall, Naruto took me up to a high building again. It was a little mortifying to be carried around to the tops of the building again, but thankfully, he was skilled at it and hadn’t dropped me yet… emphasis on YET. He carefully sat me down on one of the many rooftops of Konoha while he stood - we faced what was now a setting sun. A few looming clouds floated around the sky but didn’t obstruct the wondrous view before us. After a few minutes of watching the large bright sphere drift down into the horizon, the blue eyed blond called my attention,

“TaiyÅ�.” (Sun.) He pointed at the sun and nodded at me. I sighed in compliance. ‘TaiyÅ�.

One last word to learn, I guess.’ My head grabbed the note pad and pencil from my sweater pocket. I sluggishly wrote down my pronunciation and then looked up at Naruto,

“Sun,” I pointed at it and waited for him to repeat.

“San,” It seemed he couldn’t pronounce the ‘U’ in English. My head shook at him.

“SsUUUUUUUUhhhhhhh-nnnnnnnnn.” I tried to emphasize by lengthening the vowel and exaggerating my mouth movements. He giggled lightly but stopped when he saw my dead but annoyed expression. He cleared his throat and mimicked in return,

“SssssaaaAAAAAAAAhhhhhhh-nnnn.” I sighed but nodded to his effort. I was too tired to correct him after the long day we had of learning a new language… or, at least, the basics of it (not to mention the emotional rejection rollercoaster I was taken on). Though I was transfixed on the triad of colors the sun emitted, I watched with my peripherals as he sat beside me and looked me up and down for some reason - as though he was searching for something but then shrugged it off.

“Reira," He called my attention again, "Eto… SAN… shita?” (Umm… Sun… down?) He tried to think of his question properly. His finger pointed to the sun again then down while saying the last word.

“Down.” I reminded him by pointing down along with him.

“Hai, daun… eto… san daun. Nichibotsu.” (Yes, down… umm… sund own. Sunset.) He seemed to explain the translation. 'I think he's getting smarter. Watch out Konoha!'

“Nichi… botsu?” (Sun… set?) I pointed at the sun as it continued to recede slowly down into the earth. ‘Sundown... Or sunset.’

“Hai. SubarashÄ« nichibotsu.” (Yes. Wonderful sunset.) He sighed with satisfaction on his face. It was such a nice moment to share and although I appreciated the time and effort this kind character took with me, a longing in my heart was starting to tug harder at a feeling of homesickness.

"Ikuzo, Reira-chan." (Let’s go, Leila.) He caught himself and looked at me from the side, waiting for some sort of reaction. Although I did notice that he added chan, I was too worn out to give it any thought. A yawn escaped as I nodded and stretched my limbs.

"Let's go then."
 I stood up and stared at the last seconds of the sunset. I took in a deep breath and sighed quietly before following my guardian to his home.

‘I wonder how long it’ll take me to learn how to say I want to go home.'

__________________________________________________________________________________

'Oh no... I'm late for work! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!'

I gasped for air as I blindly scrambled in the bed sheets and collapsed on the hardwood floor.

"Ow..." I groaned as my eyes peeled open and saw feet near my face. My nose took an accidental whiff, making me sit up and scoot away from the stench they emitted. I covered my nose in disgust. 'Ugh... What a way to wake up...'

"Ohay�!" (Morning!) the blond haired guy waved curiously at me and I mirrored him weakly. He paced to the dining room and came back with a steaming cup of something.

"Kappuuuu... Eto..." (Cup... Umm...) He paused and murmured to himself, "Ocha, ocha..." (Tea, tea...) he was stuck on what the translation was, I assumed.

"Tea. We went over this yesterday, Naruto." I responded as I took the cup from his hand. I rolled my eyes and took a sip. My distraction led me to burn my tongue, wincing as I stuck it out of my mouth.

"Hot! Hot!" The stinging slowly subsided. Naruto urgently ran to the kitchen and came back with another cup. In his rush, an ice cube fell on the floor in front of him, his foot slipping on it before collapsing hard on his back. Ice cubes rained down around him and myself. 'Good morning indeed.'

------

It had been a little over a week now since I found myself in this alternate reality- universe- whatever you want to call it. Although the hospitality the child prodigy had given me was more than welcoming, I still wanted to go home.

Home... A place where life made sense - going to work, paying for stuff I want or need, being understood in my language, being with my family...

I looked outside of the window in the dining area, watching the happy families walk about in their routines.

'The people I love... Do they miss me? Are they looking for me?... Am I even gone from their world?

Why am I still here?'

A soft touch on my shoulder brought me back to "reality".

"Reira-chan... eto... Naruto...," (Leila... Umm... Naruto...) he thought for a second, "...go woroku. Naruto wa shigoto ni ikimasu." (...Go work. Naruto go work.) His smile was forced, making it obvious that he didn't want to leave.

I nodded, "Hai. Naruto wa shigoto ni ikimasu." (Yes. Naruto go work.) I smiled politely, knowing I was getting better at the translation but I still wasn't sure if it was truly accurate or necessary. My eyes stared through the window again but my peripherals saw that my reaction wasn't what he expected. Then again, how was I going to react? I couldn't force him to stay, I knew he had stuff to do so, I conformed. It's what I've had to do all this time anyway.

Out of nowhere, my day gazing is disrupted by a tight hug. My wide eyes caught sight of a nervous Naruto letting go and then proceeded to nonchalantly scratch the back of his head.

"Kiwotsuketekudasai... eto... Modorimasu." (Please, take care. Umm... I'll be back.) He tried to hide his blush by looking as though he was searching for something. Then again, it was pointless because I had already turned to stare out the window again. (Funny that he didn't notice his own reflection on the glass though.)

"Itte kimasu." (See ya later.) The words spoken were a bit sad for the normal goodbye but I ignored it and waved weakly without looking at him.

"Ok, you take care now." I knew, well assumed, he'd be gone for a few days and so I decided to not make it seem like it was a big deal, thought the tears that were held back in my eyes could've easily given my true feelings away.

Even though I wanted to go home, I still didn't want to be alone. Naruto had been the only person- thing- whatever he is- to show me kindness and care. But then again, that's what he always does, right? Care when no one else does. Either way, I've grown used to his company... and now this.

The door closed softly which gave permission to the welled up tears to overflow.

'Why me?'

----------

Hours passed as I did my best to keep myself entertained. I wanted to go out and venture the village but... yeah, not welcomed here.

A soft knock on the door startled me.

"Naruto?" I called out, thinking he probably forgot his keys. I made my way to the door and looked through the peephole. 'Hmm... No one.' I turned myself before another knock stopped me from walking away.

I was baffled to see no one through the peephole again and decided to open the door. I had taken a couple steps out when I realized I had made a huge mistake. Two figures were on each side before a dark sheet was flung over me and wrapped tightly. I tried to scream but a paralyzing anxiety hit me like a ton of bricks, claustrophobia graffitied onto each block. So, I hyperventilated until I passed out.

----------  

It was cold when it hit me. The splash of water in my face woke me up too quickly that I inhaled some of it. I coughed uncontrollably.

I tried to cover my mouth but in my despair, I toppled over to my side and hit a dusty, dirt floor. As I felt my cough calm, I realized that my hands had been handcuffed and/or chained. Honestly, I couldn't tell considering my eyes welled up with tears from the coughing.

"Anatahadare?" (Who are you?) The familiar but not so familiar voice spoke from the shadows.

"I don't speak Japanese! Nihon-go hanashimasen." I tried to make sense to whoever was hiding for whatever reason, "Please let me go!" I tried not to whimper but I was already fearing what was to come. My body wriggled away on the ground and began to cough again. 'Stupid!' My eyes watered again as the dust had picked up around me and entered my eyes.

Before I realized, someone picked me up by my shirt, placed me against the wall and pressed my cheeks with one hand to open my mouth. In a split second two fingers touched my forehead then my tongue (or maybe it was the other way around) and a strange sensation came over my mind.

'What the hell...?'

I was dropped to the floor and I sat there, tears dripping from my eyes as usual.

"Can you understand me now?"

I gasped and looked up at the now kneeling person. All I saw was a glint in his eye when I felt myself freeze. A cold sensation spread through my brain and down my spine. It only lasted a few seconds when I felt myself blink and immediately collapsed to my side.

"Sasuke-kun... You know the deal we have with Konoha. Please don't mess her mind up before I'm done with her." Another familiar voice... I was surprised again but then, I wasn't.

'First Inoichi is alive, then Neji. Now Sasuke is working with Orochimaru again!? When does all of this happen in the freakin' storyline!?' My heart pounded in my chest but echoed in my head. I couldn't stop myself from sobbing. I knew that the villagers didn't trust me but did they really have to go to the extreme of having me killed?

"Again, who are you? Why are you here? Why are you after Naruto?" My eyes shifted and caught sight of the glimmering lilac eye and the cold black one as well.

"I don't understan-"

"I've given you the ability to communicate. Now answer me or Orochimaru will find the answers for me." The Uchiha stood up and gave me a subtle disapproving look.

"I-I... I..." Before she could even say another word, they instantly disappeared from in front of me.

"What the... hello?" I looked around and listened.

"Hello!?" Only my echo bounced off of the sullen badly lit cave walls.