Disclaimer: Nibi-Nekomata is an eighteen year old American girl - she does not own Naruto, never has, and never will. This is a purely fictional story. Amelia is her own OC, however, and is based upon her vaguely. Any likeness to other persons living or dead or fictitious is purely coincidental and no copyright infringement is intended. Thank you! See you at the bottom, ladies and gentlemen!

Stars & Manga Fueled Nightmares

"Just slit his throat!" The female wailed softly, staring at the screen and frowning. She clicked to the next page and then flopped backward. "Nooo~" It was over until next week. Padding to her window, she flicked up the blind, peering out into the darkness. Her eyes caught sight of a star, and she didn't hesitate. "Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish, I wish tonight. I wish with all of my heart that somehow, someway, I could either end up in their world, or they in mine," and with that she flipped down the blind and crawled into bed, snuggling into the blankets and falling asleep.

"Get off of me!" Her eyes snapped open and her head snapped up. Did she not know that voice? Did she not hate that voice?

"I will when Gaara gets off of me," was the growled response. She shut her eyes again, holding them there tightly as she listened to the shifting about. Her dogs did not even bark.

"Where are we?" Her eyes flew open again and her heart started pounding in her chest. She was staring at her wall, head on her arm, and panic was welling up in her.

"Hey! Get up!" She rolled over; eyes shut again, and then opened one eye nervously. Yep. That was the creepy one. And the spiky one. And the one she wanted to hate but couldn't now. And all five Kages. And...

"Why is my room filled with hot shirtless men and their girlfriends?" She spoke calmly and innocently, blinking her eyes. Really, she couldn't believe that these people were standing there. But she was also amused to see how most of them double checked that they had on shirts, and the creepy one (who was a lot more creepy when he was about three inches from your bed) crossed his arms over his chest rather self consciously.

"Let's try this again," the oldest woman in the group said, though she certainly did not appear old, "where are we," her eyes flashed.

"Ri-ight. I wake up, in my own bedroom, to a bunch of people in it, and I'm expected to just jump and tell you that you're in the United States of America, in a certain state, in a certain county, in a certain city, in a certain house. Yeah. Right," she figured she was pushing her luck, but judging by the fact that she could see no weapons (she was greatly thankful for this), she wasn't entirely concerned. Yet.

"You'd better tell us where we are, or you're going to find yourself in pain. Quickly," the spiky one was glowering at her, and she half expected to be swept into one of those fantastic Genjutsu's. A look of confusion crossed his face.

"Oh! You were actually trying...well now isn't this awkward," her voice was honey pleasant. She had no reason not to be pleasant. Those of whom she fangirled over (aside from the Kazekage) weren't in the room. They were dead. That was the advantage of fangirling over the villains. "I'm so glad that none of you are armed...I've got a strange, sinking feeling I'd be dead if you were," she rolled off of her bed, skirting creepy and spiky as she slipped through the rather large group to her door.

You see, her room wasn't really that big. And to have all five Kages, plus spiky, the one she wanted to hate but couldn't, and creepy in her room, meant she had very little room to maneuver. But she did make it to her door, and when she opened it she almost wished she hadn't.

The highly annoying one almost fell into her. "Hey! Who are you?! We were just fighting...what exactly happened?" She wasn't a fangirl of him, but those blue eyes had her caught for a moment. Once she managed to steady herself mentally (and physically by swinging on her door for a moment) she gathered her snappy/witty reply.

"I'm pretty sure that you're in my house, but you shouldn't be," she darted to the living room, glad to see that there was no damage done. In fact, it appeared that there weren't as many as she had first thought. Just the three "main" bodies of the war. She was silently thankful for that.

"You're about as helpful as the walls," came the reply from the black haired male who had actually left the room, and the annoying blond one.

"The walls are more helpful?" A brief look of hurt crossed her face. The male flipped his eyes up to the sky and she knew exactly what he was thinking. "Nope! He won't grant you the patience to not kill me. That's aaaaaaall on you now," she saw the nerve twitch, but her smile never left her lips. He couldn't touch her!

Green eyes shot open in the darkness of the bedroom. "I really don't need to read manga right before bed," the female muttered, shaking her head.

"Read what?" She started, eyes sweeping around her room. She reached over and grabbed the roll of nickels she kept on her nightstand, wrapping her hand into a tight fist around the roll.

"Who's there?" Her voice dropped and she tensed up. Neither dog made a sound.

"That depends," a second voice replied. She let out a frustrated growl and sat all the way up, rocking forward to grab the light switch.

"Don't," the voice was cold and calm, and the cold hand that grabbed her wrist made her freeze in place. She repressed a shiver.

"You're all supposed to be dead...I didn't wish for you...though..." she smiled slightly in the dark. This was better than that manga fueled 'nightmare' that she'd been having.

"Though?" Prodded a fourth voice.

"Oh, nothing...just had a lovely nightmare..."

"Wait...how do you know we're supposed to be dead? Who are you, yeah?" She flopped back into her pillow, eyes focusing now in the darkness.

"Manga fueled nightmares," she sighed, shaking her head. "Wishes on stars don't come true. And if they did, it wouldn't be so calm in here," she shut her eyes and felt someone seat themselves next to her on her bed. She wiggled sideways. "Manga fueled nightmares; wishes on stars don't come true, and even if they did, it wouldn't be so calm in here," she spoke with conviction, but the weight didn't move. "Or there's some creepy guy in my room who's going to kill me that the dogs don't care about. That works too," she opened her eyes into the darkness again, reaching out and latching onto the arm of the person sitting next to her, pulling herself up. "Who are you?" She questioned.

"Answer that question yourself, first," she shrank back, not liking the voice.

"Fine, I'm Amelia. Now who are you?" She waited. The silence ticked on. The green light of the clock showed the cloak and the hand resting on the bed. "Are you even really here? Or have I finally lost my mind?" She waited again, and the silence drew on. "Anyone?" She attempted, peering around her dark room. The dog at the foot of the bed stretched and stood up, jumping off and onto the floor. "I'm going back to sleep now," Amelia finally stated, dropping back onto her pillow.

"Just answer her, yeah..." she had closed her eyes, and now she opened one, peering at the person the edge of her bed with renewed interest.

"How much will you pay to learn my name?"

"I already know your name. All of your names. Nagato, are you in here too?" She said it oddly, and she knew that she had mispronounced it. She dropped her head and huffed. "If I ever pronounce anything right..." she rolled her eyes and the male next to her snorted. "Oh, shut up, Kakuzu," she knew she had that one right. The head jerking around told her that.

"How did-"

"I told you, manga fueled nightmares. I'm moving to my computer now to show you," she moved down her bed and found her chair, making someone (she thought probably Deidara) jump.

"Manga fueled nightmares, and yet you cannot pronounce my name?" Amelia sighed.

"Look, I've got either subbed or dubbed, and whenever Naruto says your name, it's usually in the middle of something exploding," she frowned, leaning forward and flipping on the TV monitor. She had been expecting the bodies that were shown in the manga as Kabuto had resurrected them. Nope! Amelia's expression shifted from 'la-de-da' to her eyes being wide and her mouth having opened slightly.

She jerked her head back to her computer screen/TV and shook the mouse, dispelling the screen saver. With the internet already pulled up, it only took a few quick strokes of the keys to find what she was looking for. "See. Manga fueled nightmares," she sat back in her chair, leaning it against the foot of her bed.

"We're not real?" Itachi even sounded slightly amused.

"Well, you're standing in my bedroom right now...so I'm assuming that you're at least kind of real..." the strawberry blonde bit her lip slightly, uncertain now. "None of you have any weapons on you, right?" Five sets of eyes landed on her. She inched back in her chair. "I just don't want to crawl back in bed and have a kunai in my back, is all," she held her hands up, green eyes widening.

"We won't kill you," Nagato assured, patting the girl on her head.

"Thank goodness. I don't think my mother would be very pleased to discover...never mind," she stopped, realizing that her mother would not be very pleased to discover five grown (well...) men in her teenage daughter's bedroom.

"If you're going to crawl back in your bed...where do you expect us to go, hmm?" She looked at Deidara with her head to one side.

"I expect the five of you to sleep outside, actually. Preferably behind the barn where you can't be seen. My mother will have a duck if she sees you in here," she smiled angelically and then stood up, opening the door. "Out. Now. I mean it."

"You're joking," Kakuzu deadpanned, staring at her.

"Not in the slightest. You're God only knows how old, you're twenty something, you're nineteen, you're God only know how old...but I'm guessing about thirty something...and you...you're a puppet!" She threw her hands up off of the door and then pointed out of it again. "Now go, before my parents wake up and hear me talking," the five of them continued to stare at her. "I won't leave you behind the barn like a bunch of abandoned alley cats, I promise. If I do, you can stone me," she couldn't say it with a straight face. Her mouth twitched slightly at the corners as she fought not to smile.

"I'd rather rob you," Kakuzu muttered.

"I'm broke," was the quick, less than witty reply. She ushered the five out her back door and pointed out the barn before shutting and locking the door (again) and trotting back to her room. "I'm going to regret this if this isn't a dream..." she flopped back in bed and curled up, falling back asleep.

A/N: And to think, this isn't even supposed to be chapter one! :D So, I actually read the manga tonight and am now officially caught up with the plot. It's a miracle! I no longer hate Sasuke, despise Danzou, think Kabuto's a freak - more so than usual - and am very much pleased with how things are going. Though that first sentence is what I've been saying to Sasuke since Itachi started talking about releasing the Impure Resurrection Technique.
Word Count: 1,879
Time: Approximately three hours.