Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Awake

I slowly gained consciousness, my senses heightened by my awakening awareness of my surroundings. It all smelled… like antiseptic.

I'm fairly sure I'm in a hospital right now. I've been in too many of them too many times. I've memorized its faint sterilized scent like the back of my hand.

What happened..?

I had the weirdest yet oddly realisticdream ever. I dreamt that I was somehow magically transported into the Naruto world through a meteor of all things! And I use the term 'magically' loosely, because I daren't debase the wonderful name of 'science' and its many, many life-changing discoveries through something that has yet to be scientifically proven.

An anomaly in space and time is something questionable enough in itself, but through a meteor? We can't simply prove these things if there weren't any hypotheses made yet. But what, pray tell, could cause such a lapse in reality and dramatically alter it to something completely fictional?

My heart rate began to pick up as I found myself unable to open my eyes for the sake of me. They felt heavy, unwilling to reveal me to the oh-so familiar Havenwyck Hospital I know and don't love.

Why can't I open my eyes..?!

Out of desperation, I try to move one of my arms, feeling my blood rushing to it and making it tingle because it'd fallen asleep. I curled my hands into fists, feeling the skin of my hands. It felt too foreign… it must've been a while. I must've been out of it for quite some time to forget what the skin of my fingers feel like.

But still, I couldn't move an inch.

Hath some terrible tragedy struck my being and rendered my person paralyzed?

I inwardly wince at the unsavory possibility. Come on, Jamie, you can do it! I urge myself, trying to battle the leaden weights atop my limbs and lining my eyelids. My face scrunched up as my head began to throb. It didn't hurt that much, but it sure made me quite uncomfortable.

My fingers uncoiled from their sweaty grips as I reached up for my eyes. Immediately, my heart skipped a beat as my hand jerked back not too far from where it originally lain. Somebody bound me to the hospital bed!

What happened at Tory Sherman's party last night? Had I drunken myself into a stupor and inadvertently committed some heinous crime that had rendered my consciousness and, possibly, my freedom captive?

Well, that escalated quickly.

Hence, I did what I do best. I began to panic.

My heart was beating so hard, it felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest. Obviously, I disliked my restraints. Like, what if my nose was itchy? What would I scratch it with then?

Open, open, open, I chanted in my head, willing my eyes to open so I could discern and assess what's happened to my body once and for all. When I finally managed to open them to a flash of blurry white and grey, the first thing I did thereafter was immediately squint them close again. The blasted eye crust had gotten into my eyes, and with both of my hands rendered immobile, there wasn't much I could do about it, save for trying to blink the sandy particles away and alternately trying to rub my face into my pillow.

Several more minutes passed and I finally allowed myself to try and open my eyes another time. I took a deep breath and exhaled simultaneously as I opened my eyes.

I immediately blanched. This was not Havenwyck Hospital— not in the least bit. It didn't have the usual eggshell white walls or the fake potted plant in the furthest corner of the room, no. It looked nothing like Havenwyck.

In my haste and hysteria, I managed to sit up, noticing that my wrists were bound to the horizontal metal bars meant to keep me from falling off via two bands that looked like those cool fluorescent neon sticks you'd by at festivals and snap them so they'd glow. But I'm sure it wasn't that, since I could actually feel the bands pulsating, with warmth creeping into my skin.

I experimentally moved one of my wrists a bit, seeing if I could wiggle my hand out of it. If anything, it's like the glowing green bands took a life of its own and tightened around it; it noticeably became hotter with each second, as if sucking something out of me, like wristband dementors that sucked out your energy. I could feel the rush of it leaving my body through my wrist.

A wave of exhaustion crashed over me as a bead of cold sweat rolled down my temple. I settled into the bed, ceasing my struggles against the wicked restraints. The bands began to cool down into its former temperature and loosened up a bit on my wrist, yet it didn't restore my— well, whatever it took from me.

Gosh, I hope it didn't take anything I needed to function as a human being. It'd really suck if it, uh, sucked my life energy, leaving me an empty hollow shell of the person I used to be.

I close my eyes, taking deep breaths in order to calm myself.

First of all; where am I?

I know what the majority of the hospitals nearby the metropolitan area I lived in looked like. This room didn't seem to fit any of those. I reopened my concrete grey eyes and scanned the room.

The room itself was relatively plain with light grey walls and white linoleum flooring. There were two doors on the wall opposite me— one I presumed to be a bathroom door and the other leading to the hall outside. My bed draped in standard issue white bedsheets was tucked into one corner of the room, with two bedside tables on either side of the bed. My left arm was hooked up to an IV drip, prompting me to pale at the realization that there is a needle inside of me.

I abhor needles. I only tolerate them for vaccines, and that's only when I have someone to hug! Plus, it'd only take a few seconds. But this has been in me for how long?!

A whimper escapes my lips as my breath hitches in my throat. I want to yank it out, but I can't because what if it hurts? What if it prompts me to become a hemophiliac? What even is in that thing?

I examine the plastic bag hooked up to the IV stand. It was a clear liquid of some sort. There was a label but unfortunately, it was facing the opposite side. A frown crosses my face as I continue assessing the room. There was a small circular window letting sunlight flood the room built into one of the walls. I tried to look outside, but no matter how hard I tried, it was too far for me to see out of. An exasperated sigh escapes my lips. What now?

Clack.

My heart skips a beat as one of the two doors open. The door that leads to the hallway was the furthest one from me. A nurse walks in, clipboard in hand; she glances up at me, brown eyes widening a fraction before she spoke up. "Good, you're awake. How're you feeling?"

I try to speak, but my throat immediately constricts out if dryness. The nurse immediately picks up on it, pouring a glass of water using the pitcher beside it. I shifted up to a more comfortable position as the nurse gently raises it to my lips. My two front teeth collide with the rim of the glass anyway and I immediately gulp it all down, feeling the lukewarm water slide down my throat.

The nurse pulls away and sets the glass back down on the end table, before looking at me expectantly.

I clear my throat lest my voice be all croaky. "Uh, I feel fine, I guess. Where am I? Why am I in the hospital?"

She begins writing in her clipboard, pen scratching against the hard surface. The nurse barely spares me a single glance as she automatically rattles off her response, "You're in Suna General Hospital. You passed out due to dehydration. Which village do you come from? Konoha, Iwa, Kiri, Kumo..?"

I blanch. I-I-It wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare come to life. I'm actually stuck in this fictional world which I happen to know nothing of?! In haste, I rack my mind for answers. Michigan probably doesn't exist here in this universe, let alone the United States of America.

"Uh… I live in a village called Michigan." Close enough.

She glances up and raises an eyebrow up at me in slight suspicion, "I've never heard of that village before."

"Y-Yeah, it's a pretty small and obscure village, far, far away from here…"

"Then how did you find your way into Suna?"

"I didn't. I came with a group of people."

"Does this group of people know you're here in the hospital?"

I inwardly grimace, vaguely recalling how the people I came in with suddenly ditched me. "No, most likely not."

"Konoha-nin sent to rescue Lord Kazekage were the ones who brought you in. Were they in your group?"

"They're, uh, not in my group per se, but, yes, I did travel with them here."

"Then, yes; they do know you're in the hospital. I'll be right back."

And with that, the nurse abruptly turns away and leaves me alone again, gently closing the door behind her.

I promptly slump into the pillows, feeling this agonizing, uh, feeling of hopelessness. How did I get here?! Why did I get here?! Why not my cousin Layla? At least she would've known what to do.

In my despair, I begin to choke up and hyperventilate once the situation's settled in. This is real, but it's not. I can't— how am I ever gonna get home? What about mom and dad? I can't just stay here for the rest of my life! I need a way out!

Tears run down my face as I begin shaking, my chest constricting painfully as I gasped for air.

Gosh, this sure brings back memories. I haven't cried this hard since Christmas two years ago when Mamaw chucked the TV remote at my head by accident instead of at Billy Boy's because he was being too noisy.

Mamaw sure loves The Oprah Show. Even if they are TiVo'd reruns.

Clack.

The nurse comes in with a tray in her hands. Her eyes immediately widen upon seeing my state and she quickly sets the tray on the unoccupied bedside table on the other side of me before her hands started to glow green as she raised them up to my temples.

A feeling of unusual calm washes over me, as my breathing steadied to an even pace and my frazzled nerves were soothed over like sipping a mug of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows in assorted colors on a snowy day. Uh… either way, it felt very comforting and warm, like it made me feel safe even though 'safe' is the last thing I currently am in this predicament.

I'm not certain how to describe the feeling, but it felt like vibrating white noise for my nervous system, sending tingles of calm onto my brain, as much as I wanted to panic.

Eventually, all faded to black, with one thought lingering in my mind before I fell into yet another deep slumber.

She's magically sedating me.

Meanwhile in Idaho, USA…

Layla sat in front of her computer, fingers flying at a rapid, error-making rate across the keyboard as the words filled up the Word document she'd opened up a mere thirty minutes prior. This was going to be her next literary masterpiece. She just knew it.

"Layla Jenkins was an ordinary girl who lived an ordinary life. But one day all of that changed. She was sitting at home bored on a Friday night watching her fave anime EVER: Naruto!11 How she wished to go to the Naruto world to meet tem seven and fall in LUV with the Akatsukiee, but she had to deal with the fact it was never going to happen. . . or was she?! The DVD stoped playing and she stood up from the couch to change it, but then a bright light came from the TV and. . . sucked her in the Naruto world!11 XD ZOMG WTF?!

Plzzz review no flamesz pls its my first fic evar XD"

"Oh, my Lord!" A voice exclaimed from the general direction of the living area, distracting Layla from the strenuous task of creating her pièce de résistance for all of the Narutards on Fanfiction-dot-net to feast their eyes and hearts upon. She rolled off her bed (decked in sheets of Uchiha soul black and Sharingan red) and rushed off to see what the commotion was about.

Her mom was there at the landline phone hooked up to the wall near the kitchen, her expression tense as she intently listened to the person speaking on the other end of the line.

"Uhuh… Uhuh… And then?" Carolyn Jenkins queried, fidgeting in her white apron that had been autographed by Barbara Streisand.

"Mom, what's going on?" Layla queried, flipping her long, soft blond hair behind her flawless alabaster back.

"…Okay. I'll call you after dinner, then. You take care now, Cheyenne. Make sure you and River eat properly. I'm sure it'll be resolved soon enough. Goodbye," Carolyn hung up the phone before turning at her sixteen year old daughter with a wry look on her face. "Let's sit on the couch first, sweetie,"

Layla nods as her mother gently pulls her over to the beige leather couches Carolyn just got refurbished because Papaw spilt his vodka-spiked apple cider all over it when he came to visit last month with Mamaw. The two settle down as the older starts to nervously wring her hands together.

"Something happened last night."

That alone was enough to send chills down Layla's spine.

"What? What happened?" The cheerleading squad captain whispered, clutching her mother's hands in her own, neat manicure and all.

"I don't know how to say this… Um…" A worried sigh escaped Carolyn's lips. "Your cousin, Jamie, went missing last night. She apparently went to a party with some kids from school. Since she didn't come back around curfew, your Uncle River went to find her—" Carolyn pauses to let an anguished sob escape her lips before continuing.

"They said she left hours ago. The police are searching the area, but there's no trace of her, nothing! Layla, the first forty-eight hours are crucial. If they don't— if they don't find any leads on her soon, we may never see her again."

Voices; I can hear voices. No, they aren't figments of my imagination or the aftereffects of a slowly crumbling sanity— I hear people outside my door talking in hushed voices with undertones of urgency. If I open my eyes and see what I think I saw before passing out a few hours earlier… I don't know how I'll be able to handle it.

But what if I was lucidly dreaming? What if— what if I was just incredibly delusional, thus requiring me to be bound to my hospital bed?

Oh, such relief could be found in those 'what ifs'!

But I didn't want to open my eyes anymore. I'm afraid to. What if… what if I'm really in this— this completely foreign universe? I don't want to be here. I don't want this, and I never did.

That-that accursed falling star misinterpreted everything! Albeit the fact that my world was somewhat cruel, at least there was an established sense of morals and laws that applied to most of the populace. If anything, this world is crueler that mine.

These people kill and murder for a living! It's an open warfare; every man for himself. Sure, they belong to a 'village', but when it comes down to the point of life or death, the selfishness and humanness inside of us comes out of the obscurity of the darkness within our petty mortal beings, rearing its ugly head in a desperate attempt to outlive those around us. Like how one would act during zombie invasions. Kill or be killed.

If the difference between right and wrong in my world was but a fine line, then the difference between right and wrong here are blurred completely, mixing one in the other.

I don't want to open my eyes… but I have to, sooner or later. I'll have to face the truth; the very ugly, hideous truth.

My chest ached as my heart began to race again. I don't want to know the truth if what I think I saw was reality. I'd rather live a lie if it meant that I could delude myself into thinking I was actually back in my world. Gosh, this… this is going to be either mentally and emotionally scarring, or the greatest relief I've ever had in my entire life.

I can do this. I have to.

On the count of three.

One… two… three.

I open my eyes to the Suna General Hospital room I've been given.

"No," I whisper, tears prickling the back of my eyes. "No, no, no! Please! No!"

I start to sob, tears running down my cheeks as my chest constricts in pain. "Please, no! God, please, no…"

Clack.

Two nurses rush in, neither being the one from earlier.

"Tell me!" I shriek like a banshee, struggling against the slowly tightening binds around my wrists. They seemed to be getting hotter now. "Am I awake?! Is this real life? Answer me, please, I'm begging you!"

They look at me in alarm, both not knowing what to do.

The nurse from earlier hurriedly strides in, brandishing a mighty long needle in her hands. Within seconds, she shoves the other two back and tightly grabs my left arm by the area just below my elbow.

I immediately catch onto her plans, a shriek making its way past my lips. "No! Get it away from me!"

Of course, it's no use for the nurse to listen to the psychotic patient. She stabs my arm with the needle, injecting Heavens-knows-what to course through my veins. I whimper as tears and snot continue to dribble down my face.

I don't want this.

I never did.

I don't need this.

I never did.

Their faces suddenly become blurry; their voices are strangely muffled like they're speaking underwater.

"Extra strong for this one," the nurse who stabbed me murmured, pulling the needle out and dabbing it with a piece of cotton she retrieved from one of her front pockets.

And just like that, against my will, I am knocked out cold.

How long has it been? Three years? Oh glob, I'm sorry the incredibly late update. Layla's excerpt was a pain in the butt to write. Tee-hee. Review.

~jellydonut16~