Author's Note: I started this ages ago but never finished until now. Something about writing Kairi irritates me but I still do it. Go figure. I've also never written any Naruto characters from outside Konoha (besides Sasori) so these ones are bound to be a bit choppy and I apologize for that. All in the name of practice, right?
Chapter 3 will introduce Sora's part and chapter 4 will bring it all together, most likely. After that the establishment is done so I guess we'll just see how the one-shots go.

This segment came to me while listening to "Chop Suey" by System of a Down... but doesn't have anything to do with the song. I guess sometimes muse just falls from the sky. Enjoy.

"Riku!"

She shot bolt upright in bed, heart pounding free of her chest in an explosive tempo.

He wasn't there.

Taking a deep breath and smoothing the wild red strands around her face, Kairi slowly attempted to calm her frayed nerves and racing breath; it would do no good to panic over nothing. Had anything good come of panicking when Sora and Riku disappeared? No. Had any good come of interrogating Riku the last time he had left them without a word?

No.

Kairi sighed, biting her lower lip and curling up to rest her chin on folded arms set atop her bent knees. The last time she had seen her oldest friend, it hadn't ended well. It was just that he was so quiet about everything and sometimes he looked so distant... She wanted to help but he was closing her out, as usual. When did "silent and moody" become cool? She wanted the old Riku back, the one who would spar with Sora on the beach at their islet. She wanted the Riku back who didn't keep secrets, whose cocky attitude got him into trouble and then back out of it. She wanted the Riku back who would leap off a cliff if he thought it would help his friends.

Well, she thought wryly. At least the last part's still right.

She reached down to scratch at her ankle and froze.

What? This isn't right...

Rather than her cotton bedspread, she suddenly realized that the blanket covering her was a lightly woven, slightly rough thing dyed dark red. A quick glance around confirmed her growing fear: This wasn't her room.

"What...? Where am I?"

Her voice, so tiny in the dusty room, cleared her mind.

I have to figure this out... Sora wouldn't just give up and neither will I.

She looked around again, this time taking in more details. The bed she was sitting on was more of a mattress on the floor, but it was comfortable nonetheless. Next to her was a clay cup without a handle, full of water. She looked at it warily, wondering if it was drugged or poisoned; she decided not to touch it, thirsty though she was.

There was a rustling, a wooden clatter somewhere nearby. She looked around, but saw nothing. Standing slowly, she rose from the comfortable bed to stand on slightly shaky legs. The cold stone floor chilled her bare feet and she was glad to find that her shoes sat at the foot of the bed.

So... whoever put me here wanted me to be comfortable, but didn't want to undress me. I guess that's a comforting thought.

There was a certain fear attached to meeting the owners of this house. Why was she here? Had she been kidnapped? And what was that annoying rattling sound? She looked around again, seeing nothing. And yet the sound of rattling was clearly coming from the door. With a feeling of trepidation she slipped her shoes on and crept toward the opening. A slightly rough blanket much like the one on the bed concealed her from the outside; she reached out and, begging her heart to relax, pulled it aside. Staring at her there on the other side of the blanket was a hideous face, glaring blankly with three eyes in a triangle pattern. Dark brown with a ragged black mane, the thing's face was slightly elongated like a horse's and its ratty teeth grinned out from bared lips. Kairi leaped backwards with a shriek, letting the blanket fall back between her and the door. A thought summoned her Keyblade to her hand and she held it trembling in front of her as the shadow behind the blanket began to move.

"S-stay back!" She cried. "I warn you...!"

The thing passed by the blanket with jerky movements and she realized it was made of wood, jointed like a doll.

Some kind of puppet...?

It came closer every time she stepped away, forcing her back toward the wall.

"Get away from me!"

It reached out a clawed hand, rickety joints clattering and rattling as it reached toward her face. She gasped, squeezed her eyes shut as her back hit the wall.

Is this it? Am I going to die here?

The Keyblade lay forgotten in her hand, all her bravery swallowed by fearful confusion. She could sense the hand right in front of her. Why didn't it strike? Opening one eye, she risked a glance at her foe. It was perfectly still, holding its claws toward her. Opening the other eye, she relaxed a little as she saw why: the monster was holding a piece of paper in the tips of its claws.

"Oh... err... thank you?" She reached out tentatively, releasing the Keyblade, and took the paper. It was rough in her fingers, like everything else in this room. The creature dropped its arm with a clatter and sat staring as she unfolded it, keeping one nervous eye on the wooden beast.

"Come to the dining hall. The Crow will show you the way."

The note was unsigned, written in a quick but legible scrawl. She grimaced at it, then examined the creature slouching before her. It was unmoving, unfeeling, and blank, a perfect servant.

"So... are you the Crow then?"

The thing didn't move.

Sure doesn't look much like a crow...

"Well, um... take me to the dining hall?"

It rose in a clatter, turning and drifting back toward the door.

"Hey, wait!"

The thing, which she was now sure was this mysterious "Crow" didn't even pause, turning and clattering down the hallway. Kairi ran to follow it, warily watching the dusty stone walls as she trotted along in its wake. The Crow led her to a set of stairs and down into a well-ventilated room simply decorated. It was functional and little else. Sitting at the large, round table was a stocky young man in dark clothes that covered all but his face, gesturing with one hand as he read a scroll with the other. His feet lay comfortably on the table's surface, toes poking through open-toed sandals, and he pushed the chair back onto two legs as casually as anything one could imagine. He didn't look like much, but when he jerked his fingers to draw the Crow in a flash to his side Kairi knew he was the puppet master.

"So, you finally woke up." He turned to grin at her and she blinked to see his painted face. "We were starting to wonder."

"Errr... we?"

"Me and Gaara. Temari's on a mission or she'd be wondering too."

Kairi blinked again, thoroughly confused. None of these names meant anything to her.

"And you are...?"

"Kankuro," he replied. "You?"

"Err.. Kairi."

"Well then, Kairi... care to join me?" He gestured with a gloved hand at the table before him, where Kairi now noticed a bowl of fruit. Her stomach growled impatiently.

"Y-yes, thank you."

As she closed the distance between herself and the table and took an apple from the bowl, she wondered again if the food was poisoned or drugged.

One way to find out.

She took a tentative bite and, finding no bad taste or strange effects, began to munch happily on the fruit. Hungry as she was, it was the best thing she felt she had tasted in a long time.

"You look like you're expecting something to jump out at you."

Kairi glanced up at him, curious.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said: You're on edge, like something's gonna attack you. Wanna talk about something?" It didn't exactly look like the concept of talking about feelings particularly thrilled him.

"No, thank you."

"Oh good." He swung his legs off the table and stood in one swooping motion. "Then let's go see his majesty."

"Sorry?" At this point Kairi was completely baffled and could only trot along behind Kankuro, still holding her half-eaten apple as he headed toward a back door.

"Gaara. The Kazekage. He wanted to see you when you woke up. Interrogate you or something." Kankuro shrugged but Kairi's stomach flipped and her skin turned cold.

"Interrogate me?" There had to be a way out. But when she got out, where would she go? She didn't even know where she was.

"Oh, I don't know. Just come on: don't want to keep the big bad sand monster waiting."

What the hell is this? Sand monster? Interrogation? Whoever this "Gaara" is, he's obviously some kind of ruler, but what does he want with me? And why am I here?

Her fingers twitched and she rejected the urge to summon back her Keyblade.

Probably couldn't use it anyway...

"And here we are!"

The trip had been shorter than Kairi expected: a few strides down a short hallway rather than some hellish trip to a dark dungeon.
I guess that's a good sign... maybe?

Kankuro gestured for her to stop just behind him as they stood before a large wooden door. Extending a gloved hand, he rapped three times on the door, then paused and pounded harder. A muffled call replied from inside the room and Kankuro swung the door open.

"What is it now?"

Kairi peeked past Kankuro's shoulder into the room beyond. It seemed to be a simple room, containing only a round table and no adornments. Several men and women of varying ages sat around the table, but it was the youngest whose attention was focused solely on Kankuro. His expression was cold, she thought at first.
Kinda scary...

Kairi shivered, wishing Sora or Riku were there with her, and wishing –not for the last time- that she knew where she was.

"She's awake, Gaara," Kankuro was saying.

"Ahh, I see," The young one turned back to the older ones. "My apologies, everyone. I must attend to this. We will continue after lunch, perhaps."

As he rose and left the table, taking with him a giant gourd a full two thirds his height, Kairi could hear the older people around the table muttering. Apparently they weren't pleased that this young man was leaving the... meeting? Kairi could only pretend she knew what they were doing.

Shutting the door behind himself, Gaara observed her with cool, unfeeling eyes. She found herself unnerved by the pupil-less ice blue eyes and the dark rings surrounding them. He had no eyebrows, she noticed, and he seemed to be cataloguing her.
Like an animal... She suppressed another shiver. He's not normal. But I guess neither of them are. She glanced at Kankuro. Sora... where are you?

"So... you're awake."

"Yes. Err..."

"I'll answer your questions if you answer mine." Gaara's smile, the barest twitch of his lips, surprised Kairi. She hadn't expected the expression from the cold-looking man.

"Sounds fair," She replied.

"Where did you come from?"

"Ahh..."

What can I tell him? Sora and Riku said we're not allowed to reveal the existence of other worlds...

"A little island. It's a long way away."

"And what brought you here?"

"I, umm, I don't know. I don't remember."

"Strange, but plausible. We'll help you get home."

Kairi blinked. "Is that all?"

"Yes. You were expecting more?"

"Well... Kankuro mentioned interrogation. I guess I assumed-"

Gaara turned his gaze on his brother, apparently irritated, though Kairi couldn't get a clear reading through his oddly emotionless expression, then back to Kairi. The puppet master grinned impishly in response. "No, no interrogation." Gaara glanced around. "This is really a bad place for this. Come with me: we'll get some lunch."

Ten minutes later, Kairi, Gaara, and Kankuro sat comfortably around a small room overlooking the city. From the window Kairi could see that the city was set in the midst of a wide desert and dusted with sand carried by the wind.

What a strange place... I don't remember Sora or Riku ever mentioning a world like this. With my luck, I bet it's worlds away from Destiny Islands.

"So, Gaara..."

"What is it?"

She hesitated, trying to frame her words. "Where am I, exactly?"

"Sunagakure, in the Land of Wind."

"Oh. I've never heard of it."

"You've never heard of Suna?" Kankuro frowned and leaned forward on his low couch. "What, have you been living under a rock?"

"Kankuro..."

"Come on, Gaara. Don't you think that's a little suspicious?"

"An island," Kairi interrupted smoothly. "Not a rock. I live on an island."

"Or maybe you're from Ame, or Taka. Not Konoha – We'd recognize you."

"Kankuro, don't you usually do maintenance on your puppets around now?" Gaara's dry tone cut through the beginnings of Kairi's next argument. Glancing over at him, Kairi realized with barely-suppressed humour that his expression was equally dry; the Kazekage looked like he wanted to plug his ears with sand rather than listen to the puppet master and their guest argue.

I guess I'm just as guilty here, really. Oops.

Kankuro grimaced and muttered under his breath, but got up anyway, moving out the door with steps barely avoiding being called stomps. When he was gone, Gaara sighed.

"Sorry about him. He's under a lot of stress. We all are. It comes with the job."

"Oh... it's ok. What job is that?"

"We're shinobi."

"Err... what, sorry?"

If Gaara had had eyebrows, he would have raised one. "You really don't know anything about us, do you?" He shook his head. "Shinobi. Ninjas."

"You're a ninja?"

"Yes. Trained practically from birth."

Kairi could only stare and try to work this over in her mind. Gaara was a ninja? With his bright red hair and coat, he was more vibrant than Yuffie and that was saying something. Of course, his personality was much more subdued than hers, but Gaara didn't look like he would blend in anywhere, let alone be able to attack in stealth. Kankuro was a little better, wearing all black, but those tattoos and the Crow... they were an odd bunch, if the rest of the ninjas here dressed like that.

"That's ... really something."

Gaara chuckled. "Don't worry, we'll get you home. There's nowhere in the world we can't go."

"Thank you." Kairi smiled. "That means a lot."

But somehow she knew there was an adventure waiting. After all, that was how these things always went. Someone woke up somewhere strange and proceeded to help save the worlds. Sora had done it in Traverse Town, and Riku in Castle Oblivion; Kairi just wanted to know who the villain was who had sent her here. She really hoped it wasn't Ansem again.