Just a little heads-up note... I (as in the author) am not Akima (the main character) though I did add in a few similarities. I'm sorry if she seems Mary Sue-ish, I will be fixing that later on. Gotta set a foundation, ya know?

My World, Their World

"Ahhh, summer...." I sighed as I stood, slouching, on the grassy lawn, a glass of lemonade with one of those little umbrella-thingies in it in one hand. As my eyes roamed aimlessly across the endless blue sky, I sighed again. "How I loathe it!" I muttered, straw in mouth. I had always hated summer. It was so boring. And it was hot. All the time, especially in California, it was hot. True, it was boring in the winter, too, but at least there was something that you were supposed to do, even if you didn't want to do it coughhomeworkcough. I didn't like fall either, because that was when soccer season started, and although I like soccer, it meant work. As in dragging myself off my chair and doing exercise in the HOT sun. Because it is HOT, ALL THE TIME. This particular year, I had taken soccer camp (yes, that was boring too) so I wasn't looking forward to playing soccer on my team as much as usual, since I had already got my dose of soccer for the year. But the soccer camp was good for me because I was in really good shape. That would change as soon as school started and I became an overstressed, overworked lump like everyone else. Spring was horrible, because even with allergy medicine, I still had to sneeze 3 times every 10 minutes and run out of tissues in 1st period, causing me to sniff annoyingly throughout the rest of the day.

And now it was summer. What everyone looks forward to... during school at least.

"I hate my life..." I moaned, tilting my head down to look at the lawn. Sometime in the next hour or so, it would have to be mowed, weeded, watered, and all that other stuff, or else my stepfather might "expel" me from the house. So, I would spend the night in the treehouse in the neighbor's yard. They had put a pillow and blanket in there for their children long ago, and when the rope you were supposed to use to climb up there broke, they simply forgot about it. With my "mad ninja skills" as I liked to think of them, I was able to find little grooves in the tree that served as precarious handholds and could climb up there. My own secret place, on someone else's property. I kept all my valuables there... like a first aid kit...or... other things in case the situation got out of control. I hadn't had to use the other "emergency supplies" yet, though I had used the first aid kit. The neighbors...if they found out I was "trespassing" on their land... actually, more importantly, if my stepfather found out...there would be consequences.

Anyways, back to the lawn. It was still there, and it seemed twice as hot as before. The lemonade was all gone, the umbrella was drooping sadly, and it was time to do a little work. Sighing dejectedly, I started up the lawnmower and...well...mowed.

There's no point in describing the mowing of the lawn, since that would be boring, and I want to hurry on to the actual storyline and stuff...so about an hour or so later, the lawn was mowed (wow, really? I didn't expect that!) and I decided it was time to go inside and take a shower. But going inside meant going into the living room, and going there meant being near Guido, my stepfather, and that was a place best left alone. Maybe if I climbed in through the window... but no. The window was locked for security purposes, and furthermore, if Guido went out to look for me because he didn't see me come in, and then found out that I had been in my room the entire time... again, there would be consequences.

So I sidled in the front door, closing it quietly. There was Guido on the couch, watching TV, with a special bottle of something and an icky cigarette sticking out of his mouth. It seemed that he never moved from that position, except to go to work at the... actually, I had no idea where he worked. Hmmm. 'Someday, I should figure that out in case the need arises to run in the exact opposite direction of him.' I thought. Also, he occasionally got up to do a little threatening. He wasn't really large or anything, but damn, was he lazy. And bossy. He liked being king of the household, and I was the serving maid. Today he seemed almost passed-out. I liked it better when he was in the completely passed-out state, no matter how loud he snored. I immediately stiffened when his eyes turned my way.

"So... back a little late are we?" he slurred grumpily. I glanced at my watch. It was 7:05 p.m.

'It took a little more than an hour to mow the lawn... but a little is a lot to someone who needs me to be his slave at all times' I thought.

Guido had somehow or another fallen asleep, though I couldn't see how, since he had just been talking to me, but whatever. Fine by me.

I was about to walk past him when he started muttering. Interesting, I didn't know he talked in his sleep. I leaned in a little closer, though not close enough to get a whiff of his stinky breath. He said something close to the following...

"Box... on top of fridge... don't you dare look... yeah it's fine officer... I won't... I'm not..."

Box on top of the fridge, eh? Oh yeah, I was gonna look. Maybe there was money! I could swipe a few dollars, and he probably wouldn't notice in his state anyway.

I walked into the kitchen and took down the shoebox. It was really dusty, and way too heavy for paper money... Funny how I had never noticed it before. Several somethings were moving around inside of it... maybe it was a box of wine or something, though I couldn't hear any sloshing. But I could hear something else, like cloth rubbing on the cardboard. 'Probably to keep whatever's in there from breaking.' I thought. Gingerly I held it with one arm and lifted the top, causing all the dust to fly around and get into my nose...and before I could stop myself...

"AH-CHOOOO!!" The mini-explosion immediately made me drop the box and I distinctly heard several large CLUNKS on the floor as the contents of the box spilled everywhere.

'Oh shit...I broke it and now he's gonna kill me!' I screamed in my mind. Peeking one eye open, and then the other, I gasped at what was strewn across the floor. There had been several objects in there. The first one that caught my attention was a Konoha head protector (took me long enough to even make a reference to Naruto, eh?). I loved that show. In fact I worshipped it. At school, there was an anime club, and every Friday one of the members would bring in an episode. Another reason I liked school better than summer. I couldn't download them because I didn't have a computer, so I would just try to remember the episodes... I had a really good memory, but watching was still better than remembering. A string tied around the head protector lead to a single kunai. It looked pretty sharp. Before I had time to "Ooooh" and "Aaah" I saw the second item.

It wasn't quite as happy-looking, but it also brought along a stream of memories. These weren't nice ones. It was a shiny revolver, jet-black, fully loaded, and the safety was off. I knew this because long ago, my brother had shown me how to use an Airsoft gun, which is almost the same thing as a real gun except it shoots pellets... when he and mom were alive. But they had been murdered in our old house, and the culprit was never caught... My real dad had been missing somewhere. He had gone on a business trip and never came back. My stepdad was my only living "relative" so there you go. He scored his own personal slave.

Before I really had time to think about why Guido had a gun and Konoha head protector, I saw the last item. It was what made everything unanswered over the years click into place, the thing that made me angrier than I had ever been, even when my mom and brother were killed. It was a gold ring, with a big diamond in the middle and 4 smaller diamonds surrounding it. It was my mom's ring. HER diamond ring. The one that had been stolen by the attacker. I knew it was hers... There was no way I could get THAT mixed up with another, because one of the smaller diamonds around the central one had fallen out and we had replaced it with a blue sapphire. And then I realized...the attacker must have been Guido. He had probably been drunk, and wanted revenge for the divorce or something... So he killed my mother. Probably with THIS gun. My brother might have seen, so he had to kill him too before my brother could call the police. He hadn't killed me, most likely because I wasn't there, and he was sober enough to know by the time I got back that he might get to keep me. So he plucked her ring and went home. He was a burglar. A murderer. That was his job

Suddenly, I was enraged. Time seemed to slow down as I heard someone's footsteps behind me.

"Guido..." I growled, my face twisting uncontrollably. He stopped. I glared at his face, and realized he was sober enough to realize that finishing me off before I had a chance to rip him into little pieces or do what all 14-year-olds would sensibly do, run like hell and call 911, would be a good idea.

In slow motion, he dove for the gun. I became conscious of the fact that it was fully loaded, 6 shots, and that now would be a good time to run. But no, I'm mad, remember? Violent instinct was telling me to tear into him with teeth and nails, but I'm not Naruto, so no claws, and no fangs, and I didn't want to do superficial damage like Sakura by biting him anyway. So, the next available solution was the kunai.

I grabbed the kunai at the same time he grabbed the gun, but he managed to point it at me before I could throw it, or slash at him. After all, guns just have to be clicked, and kunais have to be thrown. Or stabbed with. Or occasionally slashed with. Moving on. As he pointed the gun at my face, I saw his eye twitch and instantly ducked. The blast was deafening. It rang in my ears, but the recoil of the gun left him momentarily off guard. Now!

I instantly stuck out one of my legs and spun, sweeping his legs out from under him. He fell onto the floor and banged his head, hard. You might think that would knock him out, him being drunk and all, but he was one tough cookie. I kicked his gun away, out of reach. There was a sharp implement in my hand. I could do it. It was so easy. I remembered the movies, the animes, the video games. Just draw it across his ugly throat. Just quick, and deep, and he would choke on his own blood and die. I imagined it happening... Guido spasming on the floor, blood spilling everywhere...His eyes would be all wide and bloodshot, he would gasp and choke and maybe cry out... and I would just watch as his life force went down into hell, where it belonged

That was disgusting. But he had to die. Pay for his sins. 'Remember mom...' I thought, my teeth grating. 'Remember her. Remember your brother. Remember their corpses. Remember who did it!' I shouted the last sentence out loud. He was staring at me in terror, mouth wide. I glared back. But I couldn't do it. My hands were shaking so bad I didn't think I could do it if I tried.

He saw my hesitation, and this time it was his turn to kick my legs out from under me. As I fell, I threw the kunai. My aim couldn't have been better. However, I failed to recall that the Konoha head protector was still attached to it, so instead of lodging itself in his head, it was dragged down by the extra weight and sliced into his thigh. But I had thrown it hard, and it went deep.

He cried out in pain and I ran away, fast. And yes, I was stupid enough to leave the gun where it was. But come on, I was panicked, and when people panic, they become stupid.

I burst out of the door, and sprinted to the neighbor's yard, pulling myself over the fence. I tumbled onto their grassy lawn, only to come face-to-knee with my evil, evil, eeeevil neighbor. And he wasn't happy. I was trespassing you see, and it looked like he and his buddies were having a cookout. At that moment, I didn't care, I just had to get to the treehouse, get my stuff, leave, and never come back. If Guido didn't kill me, then he would pin the blame on me for attacking him, and I would go to juvy or something equally bad. So I had to leave. I had to become an illegal immigrant and go to Mexico, or Canada. Which was closer? I couldn't think. The only thing that came out of my confused brain was run.

So I followed my own orders and climbed up to the tree house faster than I had ever climbed before, and crawled into its dark interior. 'Sooner or later, he will figure out where I am. Especially with my stupid neighbor yelling bloody murder down there.' As indeed he was, although instead of murder, he replaced that with more colorful words that I probably shouldn't write if I want to keep this in PG-13. Crawling swiftly in the quickly deteriorating light, I heaved up a wooden plank and grabbed my treasure. The first-aid kit, spare clothes, 3 MRE's (those are those army ration thingies that last forever. They're actually really good, because I tried one that my grandpa still had from the 90's, and it wasn't moldy or anything. Beef teriyaki. Mmm-mmm.), a flashlight, gloves, a scarf, $100 American dollars, a French-English dictionary, an extra pair of running shoes (in case I had to leave in the night. However, right now I'm wearing my shoes), a map of California, a compass, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. They were all in a pillowcase already, (see, I'm well prepared! Ok, I'll try to cut down on these parentheses) so I hoisted it over my shoulder, tied the end in a knot, and was about to climb out again when I heard an angry shout and a stifled scream.

Peeking out, I saw Guido dragging himself towards the tree, gun in hand, bloodied kunai stuck firmly into his leg, head protector still hanging on to it, also blood splattered.

"You..." he growled dangerously. Deciding that the back was the best way out of the tree, I turned quickly heading towards the back of the tree. Hearing a loud gasp from someone outside, I did the most sensible thing: threw myself forward onto the floor. The blast from his gun blew a hole into the old wood... right where I had been about a half-second ago. I mentally thanked whoever had gasped, because they had saved my life. I crawled swiftly, ignoring the commotion from outside to the best of my ability, dragging my precious pillowcase, out the back way and down the rotting rope that had previously been used by the neighbor's kids. I wasn't really handling it gently, so, being old, it snapped about halfway down, which again saved my life as the gun sounded off. Now it was time to run for it. So I did.

Vaulting over the fence, I sprinted down the street. Luckily it was getting dark out, making it hard to see. Two more shots sounded off, but they flew wide as I ducked and weaved, pretending it was like dodgeball and not a life-and-death situation. Gradually, he fell behind, after all, I had recently come from soccer camp, and he was old-ish. I decided that the bus would be out of the question, because looking like I was, sweaty with a pack of stuff, I would probably be perceived as a thief. So I ran... for the mall. Yeah, I wasn't really thinking straight.

It was only about a half-mile away, so I was able to run there in a short amount of time, and stopped right outside the entrance, because I didn't want to attract stares. I sat down and panted, and only then realized that I had forgotten the most important thing in my emergency supplies. You see, to "auto-cook" the MRE's and also to quench one's thirst, one needs water. I was so stupid, I felt like killing myself, right then and there. So, no water meant that I would just sit here until I felt better, because my money was precious beyond belief, now that I was an outlaw. I was trying to think of a plan, when the worst possible thing happened. There was Guido, still with a kunai in his leg and dangling head protector, still blood-streaked, still with a gun that I dully remembered had one shot left. I was really surprised he hadn't passed out from blood loss; there was so much dripping from his leg.

So I ran into the mall. He, upon catching sight of me, picked up his pace, and then we were playing tag with our lives again. He was "it". As soon as he set foot in the mall, shoppers started screaming and running and all that stuff that most people do in the movies when bleeding people are around. I ran, the pillowcase thumping on my back, ran and ran, looking for police, security officers, a big buff guy, ANYTHING. But there weren't any. They were on donut break, and the big buff guys were just as scared as anybody. So, run some more. Into a dead end, as fate would have it. Behind me was a propanetank. One shot in there and boom. He wouldn't even have to hit me. I was already dead. He knew it too. Chuckling a little crazily to himself, he slowly lifted the gun.

BANG.

I closed my eyes, as the heat of the explosion burned my back. It was extremely painful, but it wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be. For one thing, only one small part of my back hurt, right under my neck. But I was feeling extremely sick for some reason, and collapsed into the dirt. Dirt?

I stared at the ground. Yup. It was dirt, and there were also trees. Burning trees. A lot of them. And smoke. No gas tank, no tile floor, no Guido... wait, yes Guido. He was lying on the ground in front of me. And he was burned so bad I thought I would be sick. Wait. If he was burned that bad... I was the one closer to the tank. The explosion must have been bigger than both he and I predicted. I must be dead. It was the logical conclusion.

I stood up and examined myself. Nope, dirty, sweaty, smelly, but unhurt, except for my back, which felt like it was still sizzling, but I couldn't look at it and feared to touch it. I looked at Guido. My kunai was still lodged into his blackened leg.

I was in an unknown place, there might be wild animals, or dangerous people, the forest was burning around me and I might die of smoke inhalation, there was a very dead guy, me who somehow survived, a charred kunai, and my undamaged pillowcase. The head protector's cloth was almost completely gone, and the metal was singed.

Just as I began to try and think up a sensible explanation for all this besides me being dead, I heard a woman's voice. Mom's voice...

"If you are listening to this then I have passed away, Akima. Also, you must have been in grave danger to have activated the Konoha head protector..."

"...You see, Akima, I came from a different world. The world that you are in now is the one I lived in before I came to your world. I died in this world... and when we ninja die we are sent to be reincarnated on Earth. But through some fluke, I remained human, and also retained my memory. When I realized that my world was depicted as a popular anime in the new world, I tried to come back, but to no avail. One day, when you were 14, I bought that head protector. I took it everywhere, and tried to relearn my old jutsus, but seemingly I didn't have chakra anymore. I was so saddened by this... but I didn't give up. With you tagging along, I went to China where I had heard of something called "chi energy". It seemed very much like chakra, and I struggled to learn it, but I still couldn't. So I had the monks try to put chi into the head protector, to send you here when you were in danger of dying, because by then I had lost hope of going back myself, and I didn't want to waste all my efforts over the years. I then had them engrave these words into the protector... they are recording it as I speak now. I suggest that you learn the way of the ninja, Akima, at Konoha Village. Seek the Hokage's help. I don't have any idea of what time period you will be transported to here... Oh, and you probably shouldn't tell anyone the truth of this. It could cause trouble. You've got imagination, make something up. And there is no way back to your world without death, and if you do that you will most likely not retain your memory, so don't kill yourself, kiddo. Try to learn to appreciate your new life. Goodbye now, Akima, and good luck!"

I was SO confused. So chakra and chi were the same? Or at least similar? But that wasn't really important now. I needed to think of a plan. Problem 1: The forest is burning and I have to move from here NOW. Problem 2: I have no idea where Konoha Village is from here, so I can't get there. Problem 3: Should I just leave the dead guy here? Problem 4: I have no zenny or whatever it is they use for money here. Therefore, no food or housing. Problem 5: My back hurts, and I feel dizzy, and I'm tired. Really tired. So tired that I think I might just fall down and sleep here, next to that dead guy.

I fell down. Before my eyes closed, two dark figures jumped down from the trees. They came closer slowly. I tried to get up, to run, or at least say something, but my body was too heavy. One of the dark figures leaned in closer, and I recognized the face with surprising clarity. NO WAY. I'm definitely in the Naruto world, and at the mercy of the most merciless people ever.

Author's Notes:

Ya, they ending was rushed, especially the dialogue with Akima's mom. But, I thought it was too long already, and I wanted to get into the Naruto world by the end of the chapter. And ya, I added in all that stuff about how Akima got from here to there because I wanted an actual reason for switching worlds. Not like a lot of the other fanfics where people go to sleep and wake up there, or get sucked into a portal and all that stuff. See, Akima arrives in a big blazing fireball! Ya... I'm tired now. The next chappies will be better, cuz after all, we're in Narutoland! W00t. Anyways, read and review... but no flames! Constructive criticism is cool...