AN: Yeah, yeah, I rewrote. Don't kill me.

What's better about this new story, formerly known as "Have I Ever Told You?"

1. Better title.

2. Cut out unnesesary (SP? Dx) characters.

3. Better grammar and spelling (I love you spell check and grammar lessons!)

4. Much better plot.

5. Less cliches.

Still looking for a beta. Please. Please. PLEASE. *begging*

"Do you think the dress is too short? It's not even a dress, really, just an extra-long t-shirt, well, long-sleeved t-shirt, and I'm not sure if I'm being too skimpy or what…"

I groaned and tipped my head back, closing my eyes. "Just get the freaking dress and get on with it."

Lisa continued rambling on and on about her clothes. "… So I was just going to do the light blue t-shirt dress, I mean, long-sleeved… yeah, and knee-length leggings, does that sound right? Or are the leggings too much? Maybe the graphic tee over…"

"Amy, please deal with her," I muttered to my friend, massaging my temples.

"Long-sleeved t-shirt dress and leggings. Now move your butt," Amy snapped.

Lisa stopped for a second, hurt, and then grinned and shut the changing room door. I rolled my eyes at her door. Lisa can be such a jerk sometimes. Other times, she's just ridiculous. Although I guess that's normal, since she's my little sister. Apparently other people find her quite funny. I don't know why.

The door opened, and Lisa strode out in her normal, overly-obsessed-about-looking-good clothes. "Kate, your turn!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the safety of the changing room area and into the open aisles. She started chatting animatedly, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. She really isn't very mature. She acts less like the thirteen-year-old she is and more like an eleven-year-old fangirl who just discovered Justin Beiber.

I noticed that a large pile of clothing had accumulated in my arms, seemingly by magic. Lisa grabbed a blue pile that was probably a skirt, and dumped it in my arms. "There. Go change."

I looked distastefully at my pile, noticing a certain color which seemed to dominate the pile. "Blue? Really?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"Mm-hmm," Lisa grinned. "Blonde, blue-eyed, yup. You're good in blue."

I snorted. "Give me brown hair like yours any day, I hate my hair."

"I'd be happy to trade," Lisa cocked her hip. "It's gorgeous."

"Yeah, well, you try living with crappy pick-up lines and dumb blonde jokes for a day," I muttered.

"PMS much?" Lisa punched my shoulder. "Get changing."

I grumbled and walked into the changing area, rolling my eyes at Amy and Emily, and walked into the stall. I unbuttoned my pants, picked up the clothing at the top of the pile, and made a face. Light blue skirt with green trim. Gag.

Next item. Tanktop. I slipped my shirt over my head. Dark blue, with light blue decal and green trim. How the hell does she find these matchy-match outfits?

I looked at the next item. What. The. Crap. Light green armwarmers. Vocaloid style, where they look like friggin bellbottoms for your arms. Ugh.

Next, legwarmers. Light green. Utter crap. Gag, gag, gag.

I walked out. "Fine, it all fits, I can look like a freaking dork online, can we go now?"

Amy looked at me. "Hey, not bad, you'll get some good comments."

I groaned. "I still don't see why we're doing this."

"Because I've always wanted to cosplay, and what better way than being our own ninjas? Plus, we haven't used our group Youtube account yet." Emily smiled up at me. "Can I go next?"

"Sure, whatever," I sighed, closing the door.

As I drew my tanktop over my head, I heard Lisa chattering about her hair. "And I was thinking I could do, like, 20 or 30 teeny braids? It would take a while, like, half an hour or so, but it would SO be worth it…"

"Lisa, I swear to god, if you hog the bathroom for half an hour, I'm going to freaking kill you!" I shrieked. I zipped my fly, grabbed my shoes, and stomped out, collapsing on the slippery vinyl chair outside the stalls.

Emily surprised no-one with her slightly dorky and utterly prudish tanktop over long-sleeved shirt and long, flow-y pants. And of course, she had that weird little choker necklace that she almost never took off.

Amy… Well, if you call Amy punk-rock she will kill you with her bare hands. Amy kind of considers punk-rockers as posers just looking for attention. The thing is, what else do you call someone with short, choppy black hair, uneven bangs, and a white streak in said bangs? Someone who almost always wears Converse and is obsessed with fishnets? Who rarely shops anywhere other than local little indie shops and Hot Topic (and denies she shops at Hot Topic, because it's a "stupid, bloated, mass-marketed fakery of a punk-rock store," but likes the clothes so much she can't stay away)? Who makes her own clothes half the time anyway? And dyes her own hair with Manic Panic?

Exactly. So her idea of ninja clothes is fishnet gloves, fishnet tights, and a short, baggy bodysuit with triangle cutouts on the sides. Riiiight, that's so ninja and not punk rock at all.

"So… are we going to be like a team? Because there are four of us, and usually there's like 3 to a team in Naruto…" Lisa began.

"So, we'll just be Chunin, right?" I asked. "'Cause Chunin are the ones with four people per team. I think." You might have noticed by now that I'm not exactly the biggest Naruto fan ever.

OK, so I only watched ten episodes in the middle of the damn thing, and then the Chunin Exams got really friggin tedious. Sue me.

"Yeah, but I don't want to wear that vest, those are seriously fugly," Lisa whined at me.

"Fine, how about the class was uneven that year or whatever, now can we just get home already? Mom said we have to clean up ourselves if we want to have this party, and Lisa, your room is horrific."

Emily looked like she was trying not to giggle.

"Well, our bus will be here soon…" Lisa sighed and walked towards the register. "This is going on your credit card, Kate!"

I groaned and reminded myself to check the balance later.

xxx

I scrambled off the bus and run full-tilt down the street, leaving Lisa to do the sedately-walking, I-don't-want-to-mess-up-my-skirt thing. I skidding to a halt, bursting through the door and laughing, "Hi Mom!"

"Hey, sweetie! We're going out tonight, just a heads up. I was going to call you, but you're home now," my mom smiled at me.

"Don't worry, we won't trash the house," I grinned back at her. Little spur-of-the-moment there, but Emily and Amy have stayed over at my house with no parents before. Besides, it's not as if there's anyone else coming over. If it was any more than just us four, Mom might be worried, but we've all known each other since we were in diapers.

She raised an eyebrow. "You'd better not. Anyway, I was on my way out the door, your father's in the car."

I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and ran upstairs to shove my backpack under my bed.

By the time Lisa got to our house, I had already my set my computer up on Hulu, picked up my books off the floor, hung my jacket up, and taken out my trash. I smirked at her. "No, I'm not going to help with your room just because I'm finished with mine. I'm going to read a nice book and check my Facebook comments while you work your butt off down the hall."

"I hate you," she mumbled, stomping off.

"No you dooo-ooon't!" I called after her.

I heard a loud bang and then a yelp as Lisa kicked the exact same spot on the wall that she's kicked every single time she's annoyed at me since she was eight.

I giggled and returned to reading about the gorgeous humanoid alien and his
Scottish human companion trying to figure out a rather complicated mystery involving Mist (capitalized), a seashore, memory loss, and consumption. Reading about people coughing up their lungs. Lovely.

xxx

Amy grinned and twirled around in front of the camera, showing off her nametag which said "Amaya" on it in big block letters. She had chosen her name with great deliberation, and of course ended up choosing the most stereotypically Japanese name ever. Yay.

My turn. I marched in front of the camera, perched on its cute little tripod. I did my best to look cheerful. Somehow I feel it came out looking more constipated.

And my name. Ugh. I mean really, Kimiko? Is there actually anyone named Kimiko anymore? Seriously.

I freaking hate my outfit.

Emily (Emi on her nametag) grinned and popped in front of the camera. "And that's all, folks! Want to see our original Vocaloid cosplays? Tune in next week!"

She pressed the "off" button on the camera.

Lisa (or, excuse me, Risa, according to her stupid nametag) flopped onto my bed and groaned. "Must… Eat…"

"I'll make popcorn," I offered. "You guys choose an anime. If Hulu doesn't have it, I'm pretty sure Google still works."

I walked down the stairs, massaging my temples. Shinobi sandals? Not as comfy as you'd think. Plus we had real ninja stars in out "shuriken" holster, I don't even know why. Now don't kill me or anything, but isn't it easier to just call them ninja stars?

I sighed and got down an instant popcorn bag, sighing in content as a warm, buttery smell filled the kitchen and the machine-gun sound of popcorn popping began. After a second, I bent down to the cupboard under the sink and got out a jumbo bag of M&M's. Yum. Just how we like it.

The microwave bleeped and I opened the door and grabbed the popcorn bag, juggling it from hand to hand. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"

Scissors! My savior! I cut the top of the bag off, getting my face out of the way of the obligatory giant blast of hot air. I carefully held the popcorn bag in one hand, the M&M's in the other, pouring them in like a cocktail waitress at a casino.

Then I heard the scream.

I dropped the M&M's bag. It burst, scattering delicious round candies all over the floor.

"Guys? GUYS?" I ran upstairs, knocking the popcorn bowl over and scattering even more deliciousness all over the floor.

I ran upstairs and nearly crapped my pants.

Emily wasn't there.

And the computer was showing a weird, intricate dance of colors, shapes, forms, numbers… My head hurt while I was looking at it.

Lisa pointed at the screen, obviously terrified. "Th-the screen… it just started doing that and Em-Emily went up to it and poked it… and she got… she like… she disappeared. A-and then we all started scream," she finished sheepishly.

"Oh come on, there's nothing wrong with the computer. I told you to quit changing my screensaver, Lisa, especially just to play a prank." I walked up to the computer and banged on its top. "See? Nothing wr-"

And then I disappeared.

Big whoop.

xxx

As soon as I was sucked into the screen, I started screaming. But I couldn't hear myself.

Then I realized I couldn't feel my body. I couldn't feel anything. I wasn't aware of any physical forms. I couldn't even see. Not like when it's pitch-black or all white, just… an absence of color, form, shape. I started to think I had died…

And I was dumped on my head in a classroom. It looked kind of familiar, somehow, but also looked like it was drawn. Except in 3D. Does that make sense?

I looked around, poking the desks and looking at the weird writing on the chalkboard. Looks like Japanese… Or maybe Chinese? Weird.

I looked around for Emily and found her unconscious, under a desk.

I jumped and fell on my tush as I heard a loud clang!

"This is really weird…" someone said. I looked up and saw that the speaker was Amy.

They got sucked through, too. Well then.

Wait. Not quite Amy.

She was cartoon Amy. Drawn in anime style. Except… she was three-dimensional.

Oh. My. God.

Emily blinked and opened her eyes. "K-Kate? Oh my gosh. Look."

Lisa was chattering about random things and almost literally bouncing off the walls. I noticed how much her freckles stood out in anime. "Omigod this is so great where are we I'm so excited hey look I can jump off the desk and nothing happens-"

"Lisa, SHUT UP!" I yelled.

"I just want to get out," Emily said, eyes wide. "How can we get out? I want to see Mom and Dad again…"

"First things first," I said firmly. "We need to figure out where we are."

"Well, we know we're in some sort of anime world, since we're all anime-looking," Lisa said in a surprising moment of saneness.

"Maybe we're in an original anime? Like, one with us as the main characters," Amy said.

"Lisa would be a terrible main character," Emily said, giggling.

"I resent that!" Lisa yelled, shaking her fist. A tic-mark appeared on her temple.

"Lisa, calm it down," I said sternly. "It's bad enough that we don't know where we are, but you being crazy isn't helping."

"Well, fine," Lisa muttered.

"Thank you," I said.

"Maybe… maybe this is all just a dream of some sort?" Emily asked hopefully.

I snorted. "Not unless we're all dreaming the same thing, sweetie. And I highly doubt that's it."

Someone walked by the door and then paused in the doorway. We froze guiltily, hoping they hadn't seen us. "What are you girls doing here? The Academy is closed for the Chunin Exams, and you could get in big trouble for tresspa-Kimiko!"

"Yes?" I asked, then did a double-take. How did he know my fake name? Is my nametag still on?

I checked. Nope.

The man walked in closer through the door-and I gasped.

"You girls are always getting in trouble," Iruka smiled, shaking his head. "Did Risa drag you into this? Or was it one of Emi's misadventures?"

Yeah. Iruka. That guy with the ponytail in Naruto. I think he's supposed to be some sort of teacher, but he was only in the episodes I saw once or twice.

"Actually, Amaya got us lost again," Lisa spoke up, then looked a bit confused.

"I did not!" Amy yelled. "Kimiko clearly said-"

"I did not say anything!" I yelled.

"I heard you!" Lisa shot at her.

"Stay out of this, Risa!" Amy put her hands on her hips.

They suddenly stopped, looking confused.

"The third floor is just down the hall and up those stairs," Iruka smiled at us kindly.

Well then. Looks like we have to participate in the Chunin Exams. I seriously hope we can get out of this. I mean, I don't even know the first thing about anime, much less those spell-thingies they do or what I'm supposed to call anyone.

"Let's gooooo!" Lisa yelled, zooming up the hallway.

Mental facepalm ensues.

xxx

Of course, Lisa was off like a shot. Of course. We trudged along behind her until she tripped over the first stair.

"Lisa, be more careful," Amy sighed. "Listen, everyone, remember the names Iruka called you? The ones we used on our nametags? We should probably go by them. I mean, what if other people 'know' us?"

"Agreed," I said, nodding. "They're not even hard to remember, since they're close to our real names." And Kimiko is the most god-awful common name ever. But I didn't say that. Yay, self-control.

Lisa smiled. "You know, Risa is actually the Japanese version of Lisa. Hey Amy, you're a cat!"

I stared at her for a second, then rolled my eyes and chalked it up to Lisa being even crazier than usual. Amy rolled her eyes back.

"No, I'm serious! You're so adorable!"

"…" Now I was starting to get a bit worried. I looked over and saw-Oh. My. God.

Amy is a friggin neko.

Then, Emily spoke up. "You totally have cat ears, Amy."

"What?" She felt the top of her head, squishing one of the ears. "Whoa, you aren't kidding! Holy crap!" Her face contorted into a look halfway between shame and horror.

I stared for thirty solid seconds. "Um… Amy… this is creepy…" They weren't there a second ago, I swear.

I closed my eyes. Breathe in… And out… In… And out…

I came back to earth. "OK. So Amy has cat ears."

"How long have you guys been sitting on this?" Amy screeched.

"I kind of just noticed now," I muttered, abashed.

We continued, Amy stomping huffily.

"So," I said. "Are we in Naruto?" Please say no, please say no, please say no…

"Ohmigod that would be, like, sooo cool!" Lisa shrieked. "I could, like, walk on water and catch all the fishies doing the fishy stuff!"

"…" Collective silence. Also, some sweatdrops.

"Um…." Emily said. "You already knew that we are, Lisa."

"Oh…" Lisa looked downcast.

"We're. In. Naruto," I deadpanned. "Are you fucking KIDDING ME? This is the worst show in the ENTIRE WORLD and out of the MILLIONS of anime there are out there, we had to be stuck in THIS ONE? We weren't even watching Naruto! Right?"

Lisa grinned sheepishly. "We-elll…"

I stared. "You're kidding me."

"You were putting up Naruto?" Emily asked.

"Lisa!" Amy yelled. "You know how much Kimi and I hate that show! I only got through the first season before my brain threatened to melt into a pile of mush! I swear, that show brought my IQ down fifty points."

"What's done is done," Emily murmured soothingly. "I don't like this any more than you guys do, but since we can't seem to get out of it, let's go take these Chunin Exams. Unless anybody has a better idea?"

They all shook their heads no.

"I mean," Lisa said, "We could go back to the classroom or something, but that wouldn't solve anything, right?"

xxx

So, I officially hate my life.

Emily looked at her watch. "Looks like we'd better go on now. I think it starts soon."

I led the way up the passage, seeing a boy in a green spandex jumpsuit getting beaten up. Dear lord, who is that? Why does he look familiar? Was he in the… Oh, was he that "power of youth" guy?

"There's Rock Lee!" Lisa giggled. "I wanna get an autograph!"

I recognized the name from her constant rants about… hot anime boys? "Lisa," I said gently, "I hate to break it to you, but your three-year crush wears a bright green spandex jumpsuit."

"Duh, I know that," Lisa muttered. "I'm not an idiot. And unlike you, I actually watch the show."

Emi walked up to the two kids guarding the door to the room we apparently needed to go to. "Um, excuse me?" She tapped the boy with spiky brown hair on his shoulder. "We need to get to the third floor, so could you lift the Genjutsu? I'd rather not fight my way through this crowd," she smiled, looking up sweetly.

I looked over at Amy and nudged her. "What the heck is Genjutsu?"

She shrugged and made a why-the-hell-should-I-know face.

The boy snorted. "What a pansy." The sign wavered, showing that we were only on the second floor. Creepy, I thought.

"Hey pretty-girl! Can you take this?" The boy aimed a kick straight at Emily's head, faster than I could see.

"Emi!" Amy shrieked.

"What the hell do they have against her?" I choked.

Emily squeaked and managed to dodge in time, slipping and falling to the ground.

I ran up to her, almost tripping in my haste. "E-Emi, are you alright?" She scrambled to her feet and nodded hastily.

"Hey, hey!" Naruto yelled from the sidelines. "Don't beat up on little girls!"

The boy snorted. "That pansy won't get through the first exam! I was doing sweet little Emi a favor."

"Yes I WILL!" Emily yelled. "You JERK! I know who you are, anyway, and this stupid little 'family feud' shouldn't make ADULTS beat up on KIDS!"

She stopped and looked confused.

"Let's get out of here before we're caught in the middle of something," I murmured.

"It happened again. Just like when Iruka was talking to us… I… I remembered things… But I can't remember them anymore…" Emily whispered.

"Hey, I wanna go see Sasuke getting beaten up by Rock Lee!" Lisa squealed obliviously.

"That's not for a couple of minutes," Amy said.

"I'll say," I said, not actually sure when it was or why Sasuke gets beaten up, "and anyway, we don't want to be late."

Lisa pouted.

We walked.

I started shaking from nervousness.

I sat on the stairs.

Lisa joined me.

I looked over and saw she was crying.

"Something wrong?"

She looked at us. "It's just… this is s-so… real… and… I miss my p-parents… what if we d-die here?"

I hugged her. Amy joined us. She started talking. "Lisa… it'll be OK. We'll get out of here and everything will be fine. I promise nobody will die."

Lisa sniffled and nodded. "I-it's just… I can't deal, you know? I'm t-trying to be c-crazy and funny, j-just like everyone in the anime, but… I'm just so scared…"

I gave my sister a final squeeze and whispered something in her ear. Our own little code-word, reminding us of what's really between us. Us two sisters, the best bond of all.

Amy stood up, and I scrambled to my feet. Lisa took my offered hand, and I helped her up.

We continued.

Emily smiled. We'd finally arrived at the doors. "So, I guess we'd better go through," she said.

"Yup," I agreed.

We stepped through the doors.