explosive

Author's note1: So, sorry if this chapter is boring, but there's some stuff that needs to be explained to Sakura. Promise the next one will be more action-y and crazy.

If you care: I just discovered this video game called Alice: Madness Returns in which Alice went crazy and Wonderland is all horrific and insane and stuff. Gosh, I really want to play it now!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

He had been kidnapped by the man who looked like his dead brother. He had unlocked the room with the shrinking potion. He had met the man in the hat. He had traveled through Wonderland and had become the Queen of Hearts. He had met the Duchess and would die for her. He had killed all who tried to oppose her.

He was reclining uncomfortably in a tall, narrow throne, his new, regal attire making him feel hot and itchy. He stared out listlessly at a random citizen babbling on about something he didn't care about. He just wanted his pretty Duchess to be here. He didn't care about anything else; only his pretty Duchess and whatever she wanted.

(Something, something in the very back of his mind pushed forth a glimmering image of a pink haired girl but something else shoved it back down, and the image was gone from him.)

"Thank you," he said, lethargy more than evident in his tone. The citizen bowed, a hint of concern in his eyes, and walked out of the chamber.

He suddenly smiled, and it was a smile devoid of any cheerfulness. "Guards," he said. "Off with his head."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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003:

((there's a lot you don't understand about this world))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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Alice, this is what we call truth.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

He walked back to his bedchamber, robes billowing around him, almost hitting the two guards who had been assigned to him at all times, courtesy of the Duchess. He appreciated her concern but, he thought, he could clearly take care of himself, if the battle from a few days ago was anything to go by.

He arrived at his room, and, ordering the guards to stand by outside, went within, intending to take a well-deserved nap, for he was so tired nowadays with his duties as Queen and all. To his surprise, his pretty Duchess was sitting on the windowsill, a cool breeze sending her long hair whipping around. "Darling," she said, rising to hug him when he entered. He hugged her tightly against him, feeling like there was no one better in all of Wonderland.

She released him, pulling back to look into his face, her hands on his shoulders. "You've done so well," she purred, gazing into his eyes lovingly. "Thank you," he whispered, drawing her close to him again.

He missed the sickeningly sweet smile.

"I love you," he whispered.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

He should know better. He should know better than to fall in love. But that is just Life. It's not a game. There are no back buttons. He will stick with his decisions and push through until the end.

If only he could remember his name.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura was aware that her hands and ankles had been tied together with rope and that she had been blindfolded with some sort of stinky dark cloth, and she was also tied to some thing hard, probably a tree. Overkill, maybe? she thought sourly. She could hear the regular noises of the forest she had become accustomed to, as well as a low murmur of voices maybe five feet from her. "Hey," she said, abruptly ending all conversation. "I'm awake. Now what are you guys going to do to me?"

There was silence, and then a man's voice said uncomfortably, "Hinata, why don't we just untie her? She's not going anywhere."

"No," Hinata said harshly.

The man sighed. "I'm taking off her blindfold."

Sakura felt his hands untie her blindfold and it slipped away, unveiling a forest scene similar to what she had been seeing for the past few days. She judged that it was some time in the afternoon. In front of her were the man and woman who had attacked her and Naruto, the latter of which was looking at her with something akin to a death glare.

Sakura stared back. "Um," said the man, clearing his throat. "I'm sure you're wondering why we tied you up." He cast an accusatory glance towards Hinata.

"Not really," Sakura answered. "I thought it was perfectly natural for you to do so."

"We don't want to hurt you," the man said. "We just need to tell you some things, Outlander."

She said nothing, mulling his words over in her mind. He called me an Outlander, Sakura thought, not Alice like Naruto did.

Naruto.

What had happened to him? Where was he?

"Where's Naruto?" she asked, directing her question at the man.

"He's fine," he said guardedly. "Regretfully."

"Regretfully? What do you mean?"

"There's a lot you don't understand about this world, Outlander," Hinata cut in.

"We're going to explain to you," the man said quickly. "First of all, I'm the Dormouse. Shikamaru's my real name. This is Hinata, the White Rabbit." The White Rabbit didn't even nod her head or anything. She just stared at Sakura, who pointedly looked only at Shikamaru. "Sakura," Sakura said grudgingly.

He nodded. "Nice to meet you, well . . . Sorry we have to tie you up."

She shrugged as best as she could in her current position.

Shikamaru sat down beside her, staring up at the patches of sky he could see through the trees. "Everything Naruto told you was a blatant lie," he said.

Sakura started. "What?"

"Well, probably not everything," Shikamaru amended. "What did he tell you?"

Sakura glanced from Shikamaru to Hinata, who was still scrutinizing her intently. What did she have to lose? "He said that I have a role called 'Alice' and that I have to go to the Hearts castle to rescue Sasuke, the Queen of Hearts, because he'll die if I don't." she said.

Shikamaru and Hinata shared a look. "Was he lying?" Sakura demanded to know.

Shikamaru turned to her, rubbing his eyes wearily. "Pretty much; yes," he said. "Sakura, you're not this Alice person. I doubt there even is such a role. Outlanders don't have roles within Wonderland."

She frowned. "How can you tell?"

"Wonderlanders have this sort of sixth sense, Sakura," Shikamaru said. "We can tell exactly who someone is."

"Oh, yeah," Sakura murmured. "Naruto mentioned something like that."

"That's impossible," Hinata snorted. "Naruto's not from this world."

"What do you mean?" Sakura said immediately. "I thought you said people not from this world don't have roles in it. He is the Mad Hatter, right?"

"It's easy enough to take the clothes off a dead man and say you're him, especially if said dead man looks just like you." Hinata said.

Sakura was completely and utterly confused. "I don't get it," she said. "Aren't you his girlfriend? How could you have not known Naruto was lying?"

"The sense we have isn't perfect, Sakura," Shikamaru said. "Sometimes it takes a while before we know who someone really is. We just found out Naruto was an Explosive about three weeks ago."

"What are Explosives?" Sakura asked, lost.

"They're everywhere, the bastards," Hinata said. "They're people who exist to bring disorder to a world."

"Bring disorder . . .?"

"I know it's hard to wrap your head around," Shikamaru said sympathetically. "Explosives come from all different storybook worlds and just try to mess things up, basically. I don't know what their motives are. We've been trying to fight them off here in Hearts Country for months now. Ones like Naruto are moles, trying to undermine us from within."

"I met another Explosive," Sakura said suddenly. "His name was Itachi. He took me here."

Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow. "The Cheshire Cat took you here?"

"See?" Hinata said. "This just proves what I was saying earlier."

"Fine," Shikamaru conceded, though reluctantly. "You might be right."

"What?" Sakura asked, squirming uncomfortably in her bonds.

Shikamaru sighed. "The Explosives brought you here, Hinata believes, to use you to revive a demon that is said to bring the ultimate chaos."

". . . Really." Sakura was skeptical. Of all the reasons for wanting to bring me here . . .

"Apparently, you need two Outlanders," Shikamaru said. "Hence the reason for saying this Sasuke dude will die if you don't get to him."

"Sasuke's really here?" Sakura exclaimed.

"I guess so," Shikamaru said, but Sakura noticed that he seemed to be hiding something. "Listen, Sakura, it's probably best if you just go home. That said . . ." He paused. "You can't go home unless you're with Sasuke."

"What?"

"It's one of the rules of this place." Hinata said. "Outlanders can't leave without another Outlander."

"So what you're saying is that I need to leave here to avoid becoming part of a ritual to revive a monster, but I can't leave without the man who is also needed for the ritual."

"That sums it up quite nicely."

"I hate this world," Sakura said.

"This world hates you, too; don't worry." Hinata said. Sakura glowered at her.

"What are they going to do with Sasuke?" she asked Shikamaru.

"Well . . ." He stared past her. "Probably he's with another Explosive in the castle, blind to what's really happening just like you were."

"I'm still going to the castle to get him," Sakura said firmly. "I can't leave him in this place and I do want to get home. The chance of dying is still the same, less maybe, because don't they need me alive for this stupid revival thing?"

Shikamaru and Hinata shared another look, but didn't deign to answer Sakura's question. "If you're going, you're going alone." Hinata said. "We don't have men to spare to help you."

"Hinata!" Shikamaru looked shocked. "Don't say things like that! This is the perfect excuse to plan an attack to take back the Hearts castle!"

"Wait!" Sakura interjected. "Hearts castle is under the control of the Explosives?"

"Um . . . yeah . . ."

"Well, that's just lovely," Sakura sighed. "Can you guys at least untie me?"

"Sure, sure." Shikamaru set to work on untying her. Hinata looked like she wanted to object, but she didn't. Sakura stood and stretched. "Now," she said. "You guys are going to tell me why I shouldn't believe you two are lying to me as well."

Shikamaru looked bewildered, but Hinata was staring beyond Sakura into the trees. "Hey . . ." she said. " . . . Is that . . .?"

Sakura turned around to see none other than a scone hanging around on the branch of a tree. When her eyes locked on it, it gave a squeak and hopped off the tree, scampering away from them. "What-" she started to say.

Suddenly, Shikamaru and Hinata sprung up, charging after the scone. "Get that scone!" Shikamaru yelled.

Sakura ran after them, dodging low hanging tree branches and roots jutting out of the ground. She found them stopped near a massive oak tree, panting. "Damn scone," Shikamaru said. "Those pastries are fucking fast."

"What happened?" Sakura asked them.

"The scones work for the Explosives," Hinata said. "That one was spying on us and right now is going to tell the leaders that we're planning on attacking them." She sighed. "Looks like we can't do that anymore."

"It gets better," Shikamaru said sarcastically. "Since they know we've got you and they've pinpointed our location, they'll be sending lower ranked, militia Explosives after us to try and recapture you."

"I agree that that's a bad thing," Sakura said. "But it won't matter once we start moving, right?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Not if we head towards the Hearts castle. The scone heard that part too, so they'll know exactly where to lie in wait for us."

"So what do we do now?" Sakura asked.

"We go back to our base," Shikamaru said. "We can talk to out leader, the White Queen, there and see what she wants us to do."

"How far away is it?" Sakura wanted to know.

"Not far," Shikamaru answered. "We can get there by the end of the day if we start moving now. C'mon, let's get back to the camp."

They went back to the camp, collecting their things. Shikamaru handed Sakura her gun, saying, "That's a very nice gun. Where'd you get it?" She replied, "Just found it lying around."

Her mind was still whirling with what the Dormouse and the White Rabbit had told her. She still needed to figure out if they were telling the truth or not. Naruto hadn't seemed the least bit untrustworthy, but apparently he was lying to her so he could sacrifice her to some monster or something like that. She needed to figure out some way to tell if Shikamaru and Hinata were lying or not, though she supposed if they arrived at a camp where everybody was telling her the same thing it had to be at least somewhat true.

They walked in complete silence, everybody preoccupied with their own thoughts. Sakura couldn't help but feel worried for Sasuke. She wondered what was he was doing right now. Was he even thinking about her?

Of course not, she thought quickly. Sasuke was probably mad he was here only because he missing out on time at the club. Stupid Sasuke.

"Did you just call me stupid?" Shikamaru asked mildly, like he didn't really care if that was the case.

"No," she said. "I was referring to someone else."

"I hope it's not me," called out Hinata from the front.

"It's not you either," Sakura said.

"Then who is it?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura blushed. "Um, Naruto. He's stupid."

"Very stupid," said Hinata with an edge to her voice.

Silence fell between them again.

Hinata was up ahead, so Sakura thought she could risk talking about her a little bit. "What exactly is the deal between Hinata and Naruto?" she whispered to Shikamaru. "I mean, besides the fact that they're on different sides."

"Naruto's cheating on Hinata," Shikamaru whispered back. "Kind of ruined their relationship, you know."

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, I do know."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Night fell on Wonderland, wrapping it in a cloak of blackness that made walking nearly impossible. "Can't we wait until morning?" she grumbled to Shikamaru after she tripped on her fourth tree root.

"We're almost there, Sakura," he said. "Only ten more minutes or so."

"Good," Sakura said, right before she got smacked in the face by a branch.

"I see camp lights up ahead," Hinata called from ahead of them. Brushing twigs out of her hair, Sakura squinted through the trees to spot a glimmer of orange light. "Thank the Lord," she muttered to herself.

They walked closer to the light and pretty soon there were more of them, along with the low murmurs of voices. They emerged into a clearing full of tents and card soldiers walking about. "Hey!" one exclaimed. "The White Rabbit and the Dormouse are back!"

Other card soldiers looked up and some ran over, giving Hinata and Shikamaru welcoming hugs. Hinata looked like she wanted to punch them in the face. "Who's this?" a three of hearts asked them, looking curiously towards Sakura. "The other Outlander," Shikamaru said.

"Oh, you found her?" the card exclaimed. "Good!" He faced Sakura and bowed. "Three of Hearts at your service!"

She curtsied. "Sakura."

"C'mon, let's get to the Queen," Shikamaru said, taking her arm and pulling her through the camp.

"Your ranks seem very . . . thin." Sakura observed as she, Shikamaru, and Hinata walked to wherever the Queen was.

"Of course they are," Hinata said. "The attack on the castle was a surprise one. Not many people made it out alive."

Sakura was silent.

"Especially since they had a very effective killing machine with them," Hinata added. Sakura looked up at her, a question forming on her lips, but Shikamaru told her to stop, and silence fell between the three again.

They approached a tent that was much larger than the others and was guarded by several burly looking soldiers. Sakura supposed this was the White Queen's tent. "When we meet the White Queen," Shikamaru whispered to her. "Curtsy and let us do the talking. Don't look directly at her."

Sakura nodded her understanding as the soldiers let them into the tent.

It consisted of a table, a sleeping bag, and a few bags strewn across the floor. Despite the big tent, it didn't look like the Queen lived more extravagantly than her soldiers did.

She was sitting at the table and rose to meet them when the three approached. She was a very beautiful woman, Sakura noted, though the red eyes she had were disconcerting. Sakura wondered if they were real, but then thought that Wonderland probably didn't have contacts. "Shikamaru, Hinata, you're back," the White Queen said, and her tone was blank. "And it appears you've brought someone with you."

Sakura curtsied, remembering what Shikamaru told her. "This is Sakura, Queen," he said. "She is the other Outlander."

"Good." The Queen turned back to a map she had on her table. "Keep her here then, for the time being."

"What?" Sakura exclaimed, unable to help herself. "No, I need to go to the Hearts castle and get Sasuke back so we can go home!"

The Dormouse and the White Rabbit looked like they wanted to shoot her in the head, but she faced the White Queen determinedly, who stared apathetically back. "Sakura," the Queen said slowly. "I am merely a general in the Hearts army. I do not have enough men to spare to help you while you traipse across Wonderland when there is a country that needs defending. You will stay here with the White Rabbit and Dormouse."

Sakura wanted to punch the Queen in the face, but decided it wouldn't be the smartest decision. Instead, she walked right out of the tent, fuming. She heard the Dormouse call out to her, but she didn't turn around. "Wait, Sakura, wait," Shikamaru said.

"How could she?" Sakura burst out, whipping around to face Hinata and Shikamaru. "How could she do nothing when Sasuke's life is in danger?"

"Sakura," Shikamaru began, trying not to sound like he was being patronizing. "From a tactical standpoint, it makes sense. We have to keep you away from Sasuke so the Explosives can't do their stupid summoning thing. Feelings don't really matter for stuff like this."

"I agree with Sakura," Hinata said suddenly. Sakura and the Dormouse stared at her with undisguised astonishment. "You agree with me?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yes," Hinata said firmly, folding her arms. "Think about it. If Sasuke and Sakura never get home, there will be an investigation started back on Earth that could prove troublesome for us if we want to keep Wonderland a secret. Getting those two back home will save us a lot of trouble in the future. Besides, it isn't really a good idea for them to be running around Wonderland when they could get hurt." Hinata gave Sakura the barest of smiles, and she returned it. It's a start, she thought.

"You've convinced me," Shikamaru said readily, and Sakura thought he was probably hoping Hinata would say something like that. "Only problem is, where are we going to get supplies without anybody wondering? And the three of us can't go alone, either. We're being hunted by Explosive militia, remember?"

"We could say we're going hunting," Hinata suggested. "Most hunting trips take three or four days and that's how long it'll take us to get to the Hearts castle."

Shikamaru nodded. "And extra people?" Sakura pressed.

"I've got a few friends who might be willing to help out," Hinata said.

"Who?" Shikamaru asked.

"The March Hare and the Caterpillar," Hinata said. Shikamaru nodded.

"Let's spend the night here," he said. "Then tomorrow morning we'll grab the stuff we need and head off."

Sakura nodded, but she had one question still in mind. "Um, where am I sleeping?"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

In the small tent she was sharing with Hinata, Sakura tried to sleep but found that she just couldn't. She got and crept out of the tent carefully, so as not to disturb Hinata.

The camp was still buzzing with activity, and no one paid Sakura any mind as she walked around. She felt so confused, so lost, and she was traveling around with people she barely knew that she would have to trust with her life. Sakura sighed.

"Is something bothering you, Outlander?"

Sakura turned around so see a man sitting on the ground next what she assumed was his tent. She couldn't see his features very well in the darkness, but she thought she caught a glimpse of dark red hair. "I don't know you," she said cautiously.

The man stood up and extended an arm out towards her. She shook his hand once before dropping it. "Gaara," the man said, his voice a careful monotone.

"Sakura," she said.

An awkward silence fell between them as the two stared at each other. "What are you doing all the way out here, Sakura?" Gaara asked after a while, folding his arms.

"It wasn't really my choice," Sakura said, thinking of the awful time she'd been having in Wonderland. "I was brought here against my own will."

Speaking of that, if she ever saw Itachi again, she would kick the asshole in the balls.

"Of course you were," Gaara was quick to say. "Who would ever want to come here?"

The comment made Sakura actually start to smile, when a sudden wave of pain hit her, and she doubled over gasping-

-he watched the pendulum swing back and forth, back and forth, and he was so bored where was his Duchess-

"Sakura?"

-he clutched the arm of the throne for support as he gasped in pain it hurt so badly what was going on-

She felt someone grab her shoulders and she slumped into him, losing control of her limbs because it hurt so freaking bad-

-forcing himself up onto the throne even though it hurt why was this happening was it because he had been rude to his Duchess the other day-

Finally, the pain began to recede and Sakura found herself slumped into Gaara, who held her out and asked with an edge in his voice, "What's the matter with you?"

She shook her head wearily. "I don't know-

-suddenly he was fine he could move again good because he needed to move to rule the Country of Hearts-

"I heard . . ." Sakura paused, trying to find the right words to describe it. "It sounded like the thoughts of someone else in my head, and he was in pain too . . ."

Gaara studied her face closely, and then said, "I have no idea what just happened, Sakura. Maybe you'd better get back to your tent and go to sleep."

Sakura sighed and agreed. Gaara helped her stand, and then walked her back to her tent. "Thanks," she mumbled out before she went back inside. He nodded once before disappearing back inside.

Sakura carefully crept over Hinata towards her sleeping bag. Sighing, she cocooned herself in blankets, wondering what the hell just happened to her.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Let me take you to another world. Why? Well, because you're crying, of course. Isn't a storybook world cause enough to make you cheer up?

Oh, well, it's not the nicest place to be. It may be called Wonderland but I daresay there's absolutely nothing wondrous about it-

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Sakura." Someone was shaking her shoulder, waking her up and pulling her out of her strange dream. She sat up blearily, recalling the last vestiges of it. She swore Itachi was in it, and she had been chasing after him, trying to kick him where it counted, but she couldn't, because he was so much faster than her.

Hinata was already packing her things into her bag. "What time is it?" Sakura asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Four thirty," Hinata answered.

". . . It's early."

"Has to be," the White Rabbit said, throwing her pack over her shoulder. "We have to wake up this early if we're to get all the supplies we need and still leave at a reasonable time."

"What's a reasonable time?" Sakura wondered out loud dryly. "Six?"

"Yep."

Sakura rolled up her sleeping bag and tucked her gun into her pants. "Um, am I getting a change of clothes?" she asked, thinking disgustedly how she had been wearing the same clothes for two days now.

"Of course," Hinata said. "We're not that mean, Sakura."

"Thanks, I guess."

Sakura followed Hinata out of the tent. "Just stay here," Hinata said. "You'll slow us down since you don't know where everything is. I'll get your stuff for you."

Sakura nodded, not really in the mood to argue, and sat on the ground, watching random people go by. The camp seemed busy permanently, but Sakura couldn't imagine why. She never saw anybody leave the place.

Hinata came back several times, her arms full of stuff for Sakura. She now had three sets of clothes Hinata called 'woodland getup', a holster for her gun, a knife Sakura was fairly sure she would never use, and her own pack to carry supplies in. She was told that she would have to carry some of the necessities like food, and Sakura thought that was quite fair.

The three of them were standing in a circle, all ready to go. "I have to tell you guys something," Sakura said suddenly, remembering her strange episode last night.

"Well, looks like we have time to chat, since the Caterpillar and the March Hare are late," Shikamaru said, looking around for them.

"Really, where are they?" Hinata muttered to herself.

"Last night I was walking around the camp when I suddenly felt a pain run through my body. I heard someone else's thoughts in my head and he was in pain, too." Sakura said, looking past her friends at a person who kept falling off their horse. "Do you guys have any idea what happened to me?" she asked, wrenching her eyes from the unfortunate man to search their faces.

Shikamaru and Hinata frowned, both of them thinking intently about what Sakura said. "Did you recognize the thoughts in your head? I mean, do you think you know whose thoughts they were?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura thought about it, but then shook her head. "No, I don't know whose they were." she finally said. "They did sound a little familiar, but I'm not really sure."

"Okay," Shikamaru said. "I was thinking that maybe those were Sasuke's thoughts in your head."

"That's what I was thinking, too." Hinata said.

Sakura frowned. "Why Sasuke?"

"Well, you two are Outlanders who are both from Earth, so I thought maybe you would have some sort of connection, you know what I mean?" Shikamaru said. Sakura nodded. The Dormouse sighed. "But I don't really know what's going on."

"Hey," Hinata said, pointing behind Sakura. "They're finally here."

Sakura turned around. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "I recognize one of those guys!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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So it begins again

With lots of lies and a few goodbyes,

Off we go into the lion's den

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